Be firm with ultras, India reminds Bangla

NEW DELHI, February 18: The Bangladesh Government has been yet again furnished with a detailed list of camps being run by the Northeast militant outfits including the ULFA in the country, with a plea for firm and demonstrable action against the rebels. The response by the Bangladeshi official delegation headed by Mohammed Janibul Huq, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, was hardly heart-warming for India, as it did not have anything new to add to their often-repeated assurance of not allowing soil of their country to be used for anti-India activities. The issue figured at a meeting of the Indo-Bangladesh joint working group that concluded here on Saturday. The Indian side was headed by G K Pillai, Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Union Home Ministry in the talks that got under way on February 15. The next round of the joint working meeting will be held in Dhaka. The reluctance of the Bangladeshi delegation to offer anything concrete apparently prompted the Union Home Secretary,Kamal Pande to again raise the issue seeking the cooperation of his counterpart in tackling the militants operating out of Bangladesh. The delegation had called on him for a separate meeting here yesterday. The main cause of headache for India are the reports that the top leadership of the ULFA including its chairman and commander-in-chief, Paresh Baruah, besides the group's core group, enjoys a free run in the country, with the authorities looking the other way. It has been learnt that on several past occasion, the Government had furnished details like telephone numbers, etc. of the ULFA leadership but no firm action was taken to locate them.