A border talk is scheduled to take place between India and Bangladesh between February 17 and 20, with matters including fence construction and attacks on BSF personnel and civilians by Bangladeshi offenders planned to be among the key discussion points.
The 55th Director General-Level Border Coordination Conference between BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be arranged at the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters between February 17-20 February, an official statement said on Friday.
In the first high-level meeting since the Sheikh Hasina government was deposed in August last year, BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary will direct the Indian delegation, while Maj. General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui will represent the BGB during the dialogues.
The conference aspires to improve coordination between the two border forces and address immediate security concerns, according to a BSF statement.
The discussions will be targeted on restricting attacks on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by offenders based in Bangladesh, strategies to eliminate cross-border crimes, the construction of a single-row fence, and measures against Indian insurgent groups functioning in Bangladesh.
Further, both sides will discuss border infrastructure development, joint efforts under the Coordinated Border Management Plan, and confidence-building strategies.
The previous round of these biannual discussions took place in Dhaka in March last year.
The India-Bangladesh border, stretching over 4,096 km, runs through five Indian states. The BSF serves as the primary security and intelligence agency in charge of managing those frontiers.
Ties between both nations strained in recent months, especially in December, when both countries summoned each other’s high commissioners over border-related contention.
During the budget session, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai stated that India had urged Bangladesh to adopt a cooperative stance on addressing cross-border crimes, which includes support for fencing projects. He noted that 864.482 km of the border remained unbarred, with 174.51 km classified as “non-feasible” gaps.
He highlighted the significance and challenges obstructing fencing completion, such as land acquisition challenges, objections from the BGB, limited working seasons, and difficult terrain such as marshy lands and landslide-prone areas.
Last month, the BSF stated that its “strong objection” had stopped “illegal” construction by Bangladeshi citizens and border forces near the International Border in West Bengal.
The Indian delegation is anticipated to outline an increase in infiltration attempts by Bangladesh’s citizens since August. These instances are reportedly related to human smuggling and cross-border smuggling networks.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government has hinted that during the upcoming meeting from February 17-20, it intends to highlight the revision of certain “uneven agreements” concerning border sharing with India.
