By Gautam Debroy
New Delhi: India is all set to raise the objection of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB’s) over the construction of a single row fence along the India-Bangladesh border when the directors general of the border guarding agencies meet here on February 17.
The 55th Director General Level Border Co-ordination Conference between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) scheduled to take place from February 17 to 20 in New Delhi comes a few weeks after the BGB had opposed BSF in constructing single row fence along the Malda sector in West Bengal. Apart from raising issues of construction of single row fence along the India-Bangladesh border as well as action against Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) in Bangladesh, the Indian delegation will also raise issues related to border infrastructure, joint efforts for effective implementation of Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) ,Confidence Building Measures (CBM) and other issues. “During the course of the conference, discussions will be held on prevention against attack and assault on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh based miscreants and nationals,” a BSF spokesperson told ETV Bharat on Friday.
The BSF delegation will be led by Daljit Singh Chawdhary, Director General, BSF whereas the BGB delegation will be headed by Maj General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, Director General, Border Guard Bangladesh. “The conference is being organized to discuss the border related issues and for better coordination between both Border Guarding Forces,” the spokesperson said. The last BSF-BGB Border Co-ordination Conference was held in March last year in Dhaka.
The first BSF-BGB meeting
“The Joint India-Bangladesh guidelines for Border Authorities – 1975 envisage that there should be frequent contacts between the border authorities of the two concerned countries to discuss the matters of immediate administrative concern,” the spokesperson said.
The continuation
The meetings between DG BSF and DG BGB were held annually alternately in India and Bangladesh till 1993. During discussions between the Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh that were held at Dhaka (Bangladesh) from October 7 to 9, 1993, it was agreed that the Director General level meetings between BSF and BGB, were to be a bi-annual event.
Issues for discussions
In the agreed summary of discussions during the said meeting, it was emphasized that problems in the areas of mutual interests and concerns could be progressively resolved through close contacts and continuing meaningful dialogue at various levels. Accordingly, DG BSF and DG BGB have been holding Border Coordination meetings twice a year alternatively at Delhi and Dhaka and joint record of discussions of these meetings are forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs after each such meeting.
