The 56th Director General-level Border Conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India began on Tuesday at BGB headquarters in Pilkhana, capital Dhaka. An 11-member Indian delegation led by BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chowdhury, IPS, participated in the conference scheduled from August 25 to 28.
India will raise several issues, including prevention against attacks on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh-based miscreants, trans-border crimes, and the construction of a single row fence, among dozen others.
Among the Indian delegation are the senior BSF personnel, the Indian Home and External Affairs Ministries officials, and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
A 21-member Bangladesh delegation led by BGB Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui participated in the conference. In addition to senior BGB officials, the Bangladesh delegation includes officials from the Office of the Chief Advisor, the Ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Shipping, Roads Division, Land Survey Department, Joint Rivers Commission, and the Narcotics Control Department, the statement said.
Action against Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) in Bangladesh, issues related to border infrastructure, joint efforts for effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP), and other issues will also be raised in the four-day conference.
According to the BGB statement, Bangladesh will focus on preventing border killings, push-ins and illegal infiltration; preventing the smuggling of drugs, arms, ammunition and other contraband from India, and suppressing various cross-border crimes; implementation of various developmental activities and prevention of unauthorized infrastructure construction within 150 yards of the international border; conservation of the banks of border rivers and fair sharing of the waters of border rivers; taking joint initiatives to implement the Integrated Border Management Plan; taking initiatives to defuse tensions on the border caused by recent anti-Bangladesh propaganda in the Indian media; bilateral issues and issues related to border interests between the two countries.