Border forces of Bangladesh and India are set to hold a director general-level meeting in New Delhi of India from February 17 to 20 amid tensions between the two neighbours over border fencing at several points by India鈥檚 Border Security Force.
Bangladesh would renew its call for an end to the killing of unarmed Bangladeshi nationals along the border by the BSF and the smuggling of drugs from India at the meeting that would also discuss disputes over the border lines in Muhurir Char area in Feni, border pillar installation, coordinated border management plan, according to officials concerned.
鈥楾he four-day DG-level talks between the Border Guard Bangladesh and the Border Security Force of India will be held in New Delhi from February 17 to 20, where Bangladesh side would seek to scrap uneven agreements with India and discuss other border-related issues,鈥� home adviser retired Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told a press briefing after presiding over an inter-ministerial meeting for the preparations of the 55th BGB-BSF DG-level talks.
He said that Bangladesh would raise the issues of the killing and detention of Bangladesh citizens along the border by the BSF and Indians, infiltrations of Indian nationals inside Bangladesh territory, common rivers, and the smuggling of weapons and drugs into Bangladesh.
The government has recently urged India to refrain from any provocative actions amid tensions along the border over the construction of barbed wire fences in violation of the international law at five points in bordering districts of Chapainawabgang, Lalmonirhat and Naogaon with the deployment of additional forces on both the sides.
On January 12, the foreign ministry summoned the high commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Pranay Verma, to express its concern over the construction of barbed wire fences and protest at the recent killing of a Bangladeshi national by the BSF in the border.
The home adviser said that development activities were being carried out by India within 150 yards along the border without the consent of Bangladesh side.
Moreover, the BSF along with Indian nationals were detaining Bangladeshis illegally entering into Bangladesh territory, he said.
鈥楾hese issues will be raised at the DG-level talks,鈥� he said, adding that Bangladesh would propose installation of water treatment plants in four canals where waste water flows from India鈥檚 Agartala to Bangladesh鈥檚 Akhaura in Brahmanbaria.
He said that the spread of rumours about Bangladesh鈥檚 current situation by the Indian media and social networking sites would also be raised in the upcoming meeting.
Asked for further details about uneven agreements, Jahangir said, 鈥楢ll kinds of unequal agreements related to the border with India will be discussed.鈥�
He said that in 2011, an unequal agreement was signed with India regarding the Tin Bigha and Dahagram corridors of Bangladesh.
鈥業f any development work is done within 150 yards of the border, permission from both sides is required. There is no scope of doing these things unilaterally,鈥� he said.
The border management-related deals with India include the Land Boundary Agreement-1974, Joint India-Bangladesh Guide Line for Border Authorities-1975, Land Boundary Agreement Protocol-2011 (Exchange of enclaves/disposal of disputed land) and Coordinated Border Management Plan-2011 (Border patrolling, flag meeting and confidence building measures), said officials.
Border killings continued to go unabated as at least 30 Bangladeshis were killed in BSF firing in 2024, according to rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra.
In the latest incident, 34-year-old Ahad Ali was hacked to death by a group of Indians by entering Bangladesh territory in the Eolachhara area under Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar on Sunday.聽聽
The ASK data also showed that 31 Bangladeshis were killed in BSF firing in 2023.
From January 2009 to November 2024, the BSF reportedly killed 588 Bangladeshis and injured 773 Bangladeshis, according to rights organisation Odhikar.