Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhary on Thursday said all Bangladesh nationals who were ‘found illegally entering India without any criminal intent’ are handed over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) ‘respectfully’.
Responding to a question at a joint media briefing after the four-day BGB-BSF DG level talks, he said they have handed over around 550 Bangladeshi nationals to the BGB.
“In cases, when BGB could not verify the credentials, they were handed over to Indian agencies for deportation through established mechanisms,” said the BSF DG.
More than 2,400 cases of verification of Bangladeshi nationals’ identities are pending with the High Commission of Bangladesh in New Delhi, Daljit Singh said.
“Some of them are pending for more than 5 years. We have also requested the BGB to take up the case with the concerned authorities to expedite the confirmation so that they are united with their families,” he said.
If there are any instances of border violation by Indian nationals or Bangladeshi nationals, a well-established mechanism exists between both the countries for deporting or handing over the nationals to each other, Daljit Singh said, adding that both the forces also follow this mechanism to resolve the issues.
DG BGB Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, who led the Bangladesh delegation, said they have limited themselves to the agenda points - mostly related to the bordering areas and the agenda points received from different ministries.
“However, whether agenda points are related to the border or not, or to the river sharing, water sharing, or no border killing or whether the fencing should be there or not at the border, all these eventually, if resolved on the ground, they will immensely contribute in improving the relationship with the two countries,” said the BGB DG while responding to a question.
He said they are trying to work things out and have a better and secure border for both sides so that eventually no tension arises at the border. “We expect if we can do that on the ground.”
