India on Thursday (May 7, 2026) called for Bangladesh’s cooperation over repatriation of illegal immigrants in India, pressing for nationality verification.
“These comments must be seen in the context of the core issue of repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This requires cooperation from Bangladesh. Over 2862 cases of nationality verification are pending with Bangladesh, some for over five years,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly briefing by the MEA.
Mr. Jaiswal was responding to the question on Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s statement following BJP’s win in West Bengal elections. Mr. Rahman, when asked about the reports of a “push in” by Indian border guards of individuals into Bangladesh said, “When the Chief Minister of Assam said similar things and admitted he had taken certain actions, you saw that we strongly protested. We will take whatever measures are necessary on that issue.”
Commentator Altaf Parvez, writing in leading daily Prothom Alo also said that the BJP’s victory in West Bengal (and the return of the Himanta Biswa Sarma government in Assam ) has increased “saffron pressure” on both the eastern and western parts of Bangladesh’s borders with India. This “saffron pressure” is an indirect reference to accusations made by BJP leaders in Assam and West Bengal about alleged illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India.
