BSF, Bangla Guard to meet for DG talks in February

The Director-General-level border talks between India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh’s Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the first since the regime change in Bangladesh, are scheduled for the third week of February in New Delhi after repeated delays since November 2024.

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Although the exact dates are yet to be finalised, sources familiar with the development confirmed that the talks would take place in the third week of next month.

Key issues on the agenda are expected to include the safety of minority communities in Bangladesh following violent incidents amid political upheaval in the country. The Indian side is also likely to raise concerns over recent objections by BGB personnel to fencing work by the BSF along the India-Bangladesh border, particularly in the Bengal sector, where objections were most recently raised earlier this week.

Other topics for discussion include attacks on BSF personnel, the arrest of Indian fishermen who inadvertently crossed into Bangladeshi waters in September 2024 and attempts at mass infiltration into India by members of minority communities fleeing the political crisis in Dhaka after August 5, 2024.

The DG-level talks, held biannually in India and Bangladesh, were last conducted in March 2024 in Dhaka. The upcoming meeting was originally scheduled for November 18-22, 2024, but was postponed at Bangladesh’s request due to political instability following the exit of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August.

BSF DG Daljit Singh Chawdhary will lead the Indian delegation, while the BGB delegation, arriving in New Delhi, will be headed by DG Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui.

The talks will take place against the backdrop of political turmoil that erupted in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024. The crisis began when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid mass student protests against a quota system.