Top officials of BSF from Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Assam attended a four-long director general-level 55th border conference between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in New Delhi began on Monday, BSF sources said.
This marks the first such meeting between the two countries’ border forces since Bangladesh underwent a political transition following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on August 5 last year. The conference was scheduled for November last year but it was postponed for three months due to political unrest in Bangladesh, sources claimed.
While the Indian side is represented by a 13-member delegation, headed by the BSF director general Daljit Singh Chawdhary, along with officials from India’s home and foreign ministries, a 14-member Bangladeshi delegation is led by the BGB director general Maj General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui.
Moreover, representatives from Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor’s Office, home, foreign, and shipping ministries, the Land Record and Survey Department, and the Joint Rivers Commission also participated.
BSF said issues like border fencing and surveillance, border killings, drug smuggling, cross-border movement, and border crimes were included in the agenda for discussion in the meeting till Feb 20. The discussions aim to enhance border security and coordination between the two forces.
