The four-day 56th Director General-level Border Conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) will begin on Tuesday at the BGB headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka.
The conference will cover a wide range of border-related issues, including prevention of border killings, push-in and illegal intrusion, and curbing smuggling of narcotics, arms, ammunition and other contraband from India.
Discussions will also focus on preventing unauthorized development activities and construction within 150 yards of the international border, protection of riverbanks along border rivers, securing Bangladesh’s fair share of cross-border river waters, and taking joint initiatives for implementing a coordinated border management plan.
Both sides are also expected to address concerns over recent anti-Bangladesh propaganda in sections of Indian media and ways to ease tensions along the frontier, alongside broader bilateral and border-related matters.
A nine-member Indian delegation, led by BSF Director General Shri Daljit Singh Choudhary, arrived in Dhaka on Monday afternoon to attend the talks.
The delegation includes senior BSF officials as well as representatives from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs.
BGB Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui welcomed the Indian delegation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He will lead the Bangladesh side in the talks, said BGB headquarters public relation officer Shariful Islam .
The conference will conclude on August 28 with the signing of the Joint Record of Discussion (JRD).
