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Migrants crossing the border - a global issue
Last month India began trying to deport hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims, saying they were illegal immigrants. Bangladesh said they were Indian nationals. The dispute led to a state of high alert on their common border.
Delhi says the two countries have an agreement that, if people are detained while crossing the border on both sides, the country to which they belong should immediately accept them.
Bangladesh says in the past month, India has tried to force more than 2,000 Bengali-speakers across the border and that the overwhelming majority of them are Muslims from the Indian state of West Bengal.
But an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said they had documentary evidence the disputed people were Bangladeshi citizens.
Last month India announced it would take action to deport 20 million Bangladeshis who it said were illegal immigrants. And Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani has urged Bangladesh to take back "illegal immigrants" from India.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have historically been good, but they have soured over the immigration issue.
'India-Bangladesh talks target migrants' in: BBC News South Asia, Thursday, 13 February, 2003, 07:13 GMT
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