New Delhi, Feb. 21: Bangladesh has linked the deportation of Ulfa leader Anup Chetia to the ratification of the land boundary agreement, a demand that a senior Ulfa (pro-talks) leader did not find irrational.

'The issue of Anup Chetia came up during the talks,' said a senior government official. 'Hints were dropped by the Bangladesh side, which we understood as linking the agreement to Chetia's return,' he added.

At the home secretary-level talks held last week, Bangladesh senior secretary for home affairs, Mohammed Mozammel Haque Khan, told his Indian counterpart L.C. Goyal that Dhaka expected early ratification of the agreement.

The amendment bill is pending in Parliament while Bangladesh has already ratified the protocol to the agreement signed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Ulfa (pro-talks faction) led by Arabinda Rajkhowa is in favour of Chetia's return and joining the negotiation. However, it also favours the land boundary agreement to end a prolonged border dispute.

'Yesterday, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in Bangladesh that these problems will be sorted out. Frankly, as I know the Bangladesh boundary well, I must say that the land boundary agreement must be signed,' a senior Ulfa (pro-talks) leader told The Telegraph over phone from Assam.

'But some people have been changing their stand,' he added, alleging the double standards of political parties, notably the BJP.

The Ulfa leader said signing the agreement would sort out disputes between India and Bangladesh.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the land boundary agreement and the Teesta issues are major challenges in improving ties with Bangladesh.

Though Modi has committed to the passage of the agreement in Parliament, there is stiff opposition from within the BJP and Sangh Parivar in Assam, sources said.

Officials concede that New Delhi has been less than reciprocal to what Dhaka has done in the past few years, including facilitating return of northeastern insurgent leaders for trial in India.

The Ulfa general secretary, in Bangladesh for over a decade now, had earlier sought asylum in that country.

However, following the return of Arabinda Rajkhowa and negotiations of Ulfa (pro-talks) faction with the Centre, Chetia 'withdrew' his asylum request.

'But he is still in confinement,' said a government official here.

The key Ulfa leader is in 'protective custody' in Rajshahi jail in Bangladesh, pending a decision on his petition in the Bangladesh Supreme Court.

Arrested in Bangladesh on December 21, 1997, Chetia spent seven years in jail on a slew of charges, including carrying a fake passport.

In Chetia's home state of Assam, there is enthusiasm to see his return.

However, the Assam BJP unit and RSS outfits working to lay the party's foundation in Assam for the 2016 polls are opposed to the agreement.

Sources said there are major differences within the party in Assam on supporting the ratification to the agreement.

BJP leaders in Assam had opposed the land boundary agreement aggressively in the run-up to the general elections last year, arguing that Assam would lose land to Bangladesh.