Delhi urges Dhaka to expedite verification of 'illegal' Bangladeshis in India

India today asked Bangladesh to expedite the process of verifying of "illegal" Bangladeshis living in India so that they can be sent back home at the earliest.

Responding to a question, Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told the weekly media briefing today that "any foreigner living illegally in India -- whether Bangladeshis or others -- are dealt with as per law."

"We have a large number of Bangladeshi nationals here who are required to be deported. We have asked Bangladesh to verify their nationality. There is a pending list of 2,369 [Bangladeshi] nationals. In many cases, the people have completed their jail sentence and are waiting to be deported," he said.

In many cases, the nationality verification required to be done by the Bangladesh side is pending since 2020. We would urge Bangladesh that they must expedite the national verification process so people that require to be deported can be sent back, he said.