United News of Bangladesh

Amid push-in bids along the border, India has said all foreign nationals in India including those from Bangladesh will be dealt with as per the law if they are living there illegally. "All foreign nationals in India, if they are here illegally, including those from Bangladesh, we have laws to deal with them and they will be dealt with accordingly," Spokesperson at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi during a regular briefing on Friday. As far as the deportation of these people is concerned, he said, there is a bilateral mechanism in place. "And once we refer these cases to the Bangladeshi side for verification of the nationality of these people, and once it is verified, then we take forward the deportation process," said the MEA spokesperson. "We have several, or many, of these requests which are still pending with the Bangladeshi side," Jaiswal said, expressing hope that they will be expedited as soon as possible so that the deportation of people who are illegally staying in India can be carried out in a smooth and efficient manner. Responding to a question, he said they want to further strengthen bilateral ties with Bangladesh and take them in a positive direction. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said they foiled attempts by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) to push 95 people into Bangladesh through separate border points in six districts over the past 24 hours until Saturday morning.