Asked about the possibility of deportation of Anup Chetia, languishing in a jail in Dhaka since 1997, Hossain said due to some legal issues, he has not been deported but hoped that those issues would be resolved soon and that he would be handed over to India "at the earliest". 

"Legal matters are not in our hands... We can't commenton them. They are subjudice. Once that is done, we will take appropriate action at the earliest," he said. 

Singh said discussions on Chetia were on and New Delhi was happy with the status and the steps being taken by Bangladesh. "We consider Bangladesh to be one of our closest friends. In the past one-and-a-half years, our cooperation has been very close, very close indeed.

"We are very happy -- both the countries are very happy with the cooperation which is inplace. We look forward to this cooperation and (want it) to keep going on," he said.