India and Bangladesh on Saturday moved to exchange land enclaves in each other's territory as both sides ratified the over 40-year-old Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) even as two new bus services were launched between the South Asian neighbours.
The formal signing ceremony of the LBA ratification was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also attended the ceremony to operationalise the land swap.
Modi tweeted: "History is made as the Instruments of Ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement are exchanged."
A tweet by external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: "'Historic' doesn't really do justice to this red-letter day. Exchange of Instruments of Ratification of LBA."
The land swap agreement envisages transfer of 111 enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres to Bangladesh, while Dhaka is to transfer 51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres to India. A 6.1-km undefined border stretch will be demarcated.
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The LBA was inked on May 16, 1974 by then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangladesh's Jatiya Sangsad had ratified the LBA immediately after.
As it involved the transfer of territory, which required constitutional amendment, the process took time in India.
A protocol on the LBA was also signed by both sides on September 6, 2011.
The four Indian border states involved in the exchange of territories are Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal.
The 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh include 12 in Kurigram district, 59 in Nilphamari and 36 in Panhagarh.
The Indian enclaves are home to nearly 37,000 people while Bangladeshi enclaves have about 14,000 people.
According to the agreement, the people of the enclaves can choose citizenship of either country.
Ahead of the ratification ceremony, Modi, Hasina and Banerjee flagged off the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati bus services here.
"Connecting lands, binding hearts. PM @narendramodi and PM Sheikh Hasina flag off buses to Guwahati and Agartala," Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, tweeted.
Prior to flagging off the services, the three leaders boarded the buses and greeted the passengers.
The Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala service will reduce the travel time between the capitals of India's West Bengal and Tripura states by one-third.
Modi reached Bangladesh earlier in the day on a two-day visit.
In a tweet, Modi thanked Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the warm welcome.
"Thank you PM Sheikh Hasina for the warm welcome. I look forward to a very good visit that will strengthen ties between India and Bangladesh," Modi tweeted.
Modi, who arrived in a special Indian Air Force aircraft, IAF Rajdoot, was received, in a break from protocol, by his Bangladeshi counterpart. He was accorded a ceremonial welcome after which he inspected a guard of honour. He was also accorded a 19-gun salute.
After that, the Indian prime minister paid homage at the National Martyrs' Memorial, 35 km from Dhaka.
"Remembering the sacrifice of the Liberation Struggle. PM @narendramodi at the National Martyrs' Memorial," Vikas Swarup tweeted.
"Memorial gives impression of rising from the ashes like a phoenix. It symbolises courage & determination of people," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
He also laid a floral wreath at the memorial.
Following this, Modi visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to pay tribute to the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"After tributes to the martyrs, paying respects to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum," he tweeted.
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"Bangabandhu lived here from 1961 till his assassination on the night of August 14-15, 1975," he tweeted.
Modi, who went through all the exhibits at the museum, tweeted some photos from the venue: "Pictures from the house where history was scripted by Bangabandhu."
The two-storey museum is the former home of Mujibur Rahman.