Bangladesh, India agree to bring down border killings
Staff Reporter :
India and Bangladesh have decided to work together to eliminate border killings of Bangladeshi people and to jointly inspect any building projects that are being carried out within 150 yards of the borders.
The two countries came to an agreement during a four-day Director General (DG) level conference of the two border forces, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladeshi Border Guard (BGB), which took place in the Indian capital, New Delhi, from February 17 to 20.
A 13-member Bangladesh delegation led by BGB DG Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui participated in the conference.
On the other hand, a 13-member Indian delegation was led by BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary in the conference.
A joint statement was issued after the conference in which both the friendly countries have agreed on some issues of bilateral interest, said a BGB press release issued here today.
“In order to reduce the incidents of shooting/killing/injuring/beating of unarmed citizens at the border to zero level, both sides agreed to increase joint patrols in vulnerable areas of the border,” the joint statement said.
It also said that both the countries agreed to exchange immediate and advance intelligence information that would benefit both border forces, undertake public awareness programmes among the people living in the border areas and undertake various socio-economic and developmental programmes, and take necessary measures after proper investigation in case of any killing on the border.
During the conference emphasis was laid on the importance of forming a joint inspection team consisting of representatives of the appropriate authorities of both countries for inspection of any construction, barbed wire fence, any construction used for defense or bunker within 150 yards of the border and construction based on a Joint Record of Discussion (JRD).
In addition, discussions were also held on the speedy resolution of development works that are closed within 150 yards of the border through joint verification at the appropriate level.
In the joint statement, both countries have agreed to suppress various cross-border crimes, especially preventing the smuggling of drugs and livestock including phensedyl, yaba and marijuana alongside preventing illegal infiltration, human trafficking, smuggling of gold, weapons, counterfeit currency notes, etc., and to exchange immediate information about the people involved in all these crimes.