The Indian-Bangladesh swap

On July 31, India and Bangladesh began to finally swap tiny islands of land, ending one of the world’s most difficult border disputes that has kept thousands of people stateless for almost 70 years. India and Bangladesh will now print, sign and exchange the strip maps of un-demarcated sectors to implement the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).

The LBA created the grounds for the exchange of 162 enclaves based in both countries. In terms of land 17160.63 acres of land will be returned to Bangladesh and 7,110.02 acres will come to India. Additionally, a 6.1 kilometre-long unmarked border will also be demarcated.

This entire process, including the physical exchange of people is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016.

However, the two countries will also need to find solutions to issues like smuggling, illegal immigration and trafficking that a long unsettled border has created, and the problem of sharing the water of the 53 rivers that flow between both countries.