India-Bangladesh border talks next week; fencing, attacks by Bangladeshi miscreants on agenda

The border forces of India and Bangladesh will hold their bi-annual talks here next week with issues such as border fence construction and attacks on BSF personnel and civilians by Bangladeshi miscreants figuring among the discussion points, an official statement said on Friday.

The 55th Director General-Level Border Coordination Conference between BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be organised at the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters here from February 17-20.

This would be the first top-level meeting between the two sides after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year.

The Indian side will be led by BSF Director General (DG) Daljit Singh Chawdhary while the BGB delegation will be headed by Maj General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui.

The conference is being organised to discuss border-related issues and for better coordination between both the border-guarding forces, the BSF said in a statement.

Discussions will be held on prevention of attack/assault on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh-based miscreants/nationals, how to prevent trans-border crimes, construction of single row fence, action against Indian Insurgent Groups in Bangladesh, issues related to border infrastructure, joint efforts for effective implementation of Coordinated Border Management Plan, Confidence Building Measures and other issues.

The last edition of these bi-annual talks was held in Dhaka in March last year.