New Delhi: India and Bangladesh are scheduled to conduct their bi-annual Director General (DG)-level border talks in Dhaka next month to address various issues related to preventing cross-border crimes. The discussions, set to take place between March 5-9, will involve a delegation led by Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Nitin Agrawal and will be the 54th edition of talks between BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The meeting will occur at the BGB headquarters in Dhaka’s Pilkhana, with BGB DG Maj Gen Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui leading the Bangladeshi delegation. Representatives from home and external affairs ministries, as well as anti-narcotics and other agencies from both countries, will participate.
The agenda includes addressing issues related to border management, such as preventing assaults on BSF personnel and civilians by Bangladeshi criminals, jointly combating crimes like smuggling of goods and fake Indian currency, enhancing the coordinated border management plan (CBMP), and preventing illegal construction activities along the border fence. The BSF is responsible for safeguarding the 4,096-km-long Indian border with Bangladesh on the eastern side. The DG-level border talks, initially held annually from 1975 to 1992, were made bi-annual in 1993, with meetings alternating between New Delhi and Dhaka. The last talks occurred in Delhi in June 2023.
A senior Union home ministry official stated that the aim of the meeting is to strengthen the already good relations between the two countries and their respective forces. According to official data, in 2023, the BSF apprehended over 3,342 Bangladeshi nationals along the border, the highest number in the last six years. Additionally, 77 BSF personnel were injured in attacks by Bangladeshi and Indian miscreants in 2023, compared to 43 and 64 incidents in 2022 and 2021, respectively.