India may amend constitution to strengthen ties

India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is likely to introduce a constitutional amendment bill designed to improve ties with Bangladesh, despite stiff opposition from coalition ally Trinamool Congress, Indian newspaper Deccan Herald reports.
UPA feels that the ratification of the 1974 Bangladesh-India land boundary agreement and the protocol added to it when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Bangladesh in 2011 is necessary to improve relations, the newspaper added.
Though the ruling alliance lacks the numbers in either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, sources said it is likely to introduce the bill during the monsoon session of parliament.
The opposition parties, especially Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), are expected to oppose the bill as they feel that India will lose more than it will gain.
Sources said UPA wanted to send out a message to Bangladesh that Manmohan was committed to ratify the agreement and protocol, said the newspaper.
The agreement includes resolving pending disputes on undemarcated border stretches, facilitating the exchange of 51 enclaves of Bangladesh in India and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and preserving “adversely possessed lands” as status quo.
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress feels that the deal would cause India to lose large chunks of its territory to Bangladesh. It has also stalled a deal on sharing of Teesta's waters between the two nations.
Protesting against the deal last year, BJP and Asom Gana Parishad in Assam alleged that it would make the northeastern state lose territory.
Bangladesh is understood to have told India to put forward some “visible steps” for the agreement's ratification, said the newspaper.
Sources said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary M Mijarul Quayes told his Indian counterpart Ranjan Mathai last month that introduction of the bill would help Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.
The Bangladesh government would be able to justify its policy of walking the extra mile to maintain friendly ties with India, a move criticised by the opposition parties which alleged that she was giving too much to India, said Mijarul.