Indian minister warns against cross-border insurgency

India yesterday said it is the duty of Bangladesh not to allow its territory be used for “anti-India activities.”
"The message must go to Bangladesh that it was duty-bound... it cannot allow its territory to be a safe haven for the insurgent groups," Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha.
“In the long run, Bangladesh is hurting itself if it does not enjoy good relations with India," he said winding up a discussion on the blasts in the northeast in October.
A debate on the issue saw several members demanding that Bangladesh be issued an ultimatum like Pakistan.
Chidambaram said the issues regarding insurgency in the northeast were "quite grave."
He said tardy progress of border fencing, issuance of national identity cards and “illegal immigration from Bangladesh” are areas of concern in northeast India.
He noted that border fencing had resulted in rich dividends in Punjab at the height of militancy there in the 1980s.
Chidambaram said a comprehensive review was being undertaken of the security situation in the northeast and the government is concerned over “Bangladesh being continuously used as a safe haven for insurgents.”
Earlier participating in the debate, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said "All people speaking Bangla are not Bangladeshis."
She strongly opposed the idea of using language as the only tool to identify Bangladeshi infiltrators in the country.
"People speak the same language in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Same is the case with Kerala and the Maldives. But there is no such situation there. We have developed friendship with Bangladesh using the same advantage rather than making it a hurdle," she said.
A member from Arunachal Pradesh urged the government to finish the task of fencing the Indo-Bangla border like it was done in Jammu and Kashmir.