New Delhi: India and Bangladesh will hold their bi-annual border-level talks here later this week during which the two sides are expected to discuss a host of issues related to cross-frontier crimes and measures to create better synergy between their security agencies, official sources said Thursday.
A 15-member delegation of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is expected to land in Delhi Saturday for the four-day talks to be held between June 11 and 14 with their Indian counterparts, the Border Security Force (BSF).
The BGB side will be led by its director general (DG) Maj Gen AKM Nazmul Hasan while the BSF delegation will be headed by DG Sujoy Lal Thaosen.
Officials from the ministries of home, external affairs and anti-drugs enforcement will also be part of these two delegations.
This will be the 53rd edition of the talks and the last such meeting was held in July last year when the BSF delegation travelled to Dhaka.
Both sides are expected to deliberate on a number of issues related to border management, checking crimes on this front, joint initiatives to implement the coordinated border management plan (CBMP), ways to enhance mutual trust between the BGB and BSF and further strengthen the existing bilateral relations, a senior Union home ministry officer told PTI.
The BSF guards the 4,096 km-long international Indian front with Bangladesh on the country’s eastern flank.
These talks were held annually between 1975 and 1992 but they were made bi-annual in 1993 with either side alternatively travelling to the national capitals of New Delhi and Dhaka.
A senior BSF officer said relations between the two countries and forces are very good and the two sides are working to enhance these ties.
According to official data, the BSF has handed over to the BGB, between mid-June 2022 and April 2023, a total of 407 Bangladeshi nationals in a “goodwill gesture” and without taking any legal action as they were found to have crossed over inadvertently.
The Indian border force will also share data with the BGB about “proactive” measures taken by it to check smuggling of narcotics like Yaba tablets and Phensedyl cough syrups from this side to Bangladesh.
Measures to ensure that no activity takes places within 150 yards of the International Border and that those indulging in smuggling of various goods are stopped at all costs are also expected to be discussed during the meeting which will end with the signing of a ‘joint record of discussion’ June 14.
PTI