Cattle fencing to figure in talks with Bangladesh in Oct
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 29
Amid extremely fluid situation prevailing along the India-Bangladesh border, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) personnel last week prevented BSF personnel from erecting a cattle fence in the Cooch Behar region, while the five Indian nationals who had accidentally crossed into the neighbouring nation earlier this month, are yet to be handed over to the Indian authorities.
These issues are expected to be taken up during the Director General-level talks, expected to be held in October, the first such negotiation after the political crisis boiled over in Dhaka.
The DG-level talks are held every six months and the next round of talks are scheduled to take place in New Delhi in October. Daljit Singh Chaudhary, who was appointed DG of BSF on Wednesday, will hold the talks with his BGB counterpart.
According to highly placed sources, efforts by the BSF to put up fences in the Cooch Behar section were thwarted last week by BGB personnel, even as the Indian security forces were erecting fences to avoid cattle from crossing over to the other side.
Sources said local Bangladeshi villagers protested the efforts by BSF personnel to put up the fence due to which the work had to be halted. BSF officials, on their part, played down the matter, saying such things took place sometimes, and only a miniscule portion was left to be fenced. “Villagers of both sides often fight over such issues,” an official said. BSF officials said five Indians who had accidentally strayed into the neighbouring territory would be released soon.
