Border firing to capture centre stage of BSF-BGB meeting in New Delhi

Chiefs of the border guards of India and Bangladesh will meet in New Delhi on Wednesday against the backdrop of a Bangladeshi national’s killing at the Meherpur border.

New Delhi Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 August 2014, 06:09 PM
Updated : 20 August 2014, 02:21 PM

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km border and the incident is likely to be the centre point at a five-day ‘Border Coordination Conference’ between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the Indian capital.

A 20-member BGB delegation led by Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed has reached Delhi. The meeting is scheduled to start on Wednesday at the BSF headquarters.

BSF Director General DK Pathak will lead the Indian side at the conference which will continue till Sunday.

Government sources told bdnews24.com that issues like intelligence sharing, human trafficking, fake Indian currency note (FICN), and cow smuggling will be raised by the BSF team.

However, diplomatic officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi said that firing incidents along the border will be raised by the BGB team.

The BGB team is likely to raise the incident of firing allegedly by
BSF troops recently that killed Abdul Khalekh.

Such incidents have always been contentious issues between the two countries. Top leaders of both countries have promised to coordinate with each other to prevent such incidents.

Meanwhile, as a part of the DG level BSF–BGB border Coordination conference, Border Security Force is organizing a friendly Maitri Cup Basketball match between BSF and BGB teams.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Basketball team will visit New Delhi to take part in Maitri Cup Basketball match with Border Security Force Basketball team, said BSGF spokesperson VN Parashar.

“This match between the forces of the two countries is to strengthen the relations between two neighbouring countries as well as their border-guarding forces,” he said.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the basketball match.