Bangladesh News

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has handed Border Security Force (BSF) a list of 1,626 Bangladeshi criminals hiding in India as a three-day high-level meeting between the two border forces concluded in Bogra yesterday.

In addition, BSF agreed not to open fire on innocent Bangladeshi citizens, except in self-defence, along the border areas during daytime.

At a post-meeting joint press conference yesterday, both sides said they had reached consensus on all the issues on the agenda regarding border problems and interests of both nations during the deputy director general level meeting.

BDR Deputy Director General Brig Gen MA Bari led the 12-member Bangladesh team in the meeting while the 18-member Indian delegation was led by Inspector General of BSF North Bengal Frontier RA Tiwari.

Asked if India provided any specific information in support of its allegations that Bangladesh harbours Indian separatists and terrorists, Brig Gen MA Bari replied in the negative. He, however, said that they would examine whatever information the BSF has given.

Earlier at a BDR-BSF director-general level meeting, India had given Bangladesh a list of 1,000 Indian criminals hiding in Bangladesh, IG RA Tiwari said.

Both sides also agreed to solve the issues of push-back and push-in on the basis of dialogue if those arise again.

Brig Gen MA Bari said that the nationals of both the countries detained by BDR and BSF would be released on humanitarian grounds as per the laws of the respective countries.

They also claimed that joint patrolling by the BDR and BSF has contributed to the decrease in intrusion, drug smuggling and other crimes adding that another high-level meeting between the border guards of the two countries will be held in mid-February at Shillong in India.

The land dispute in Naogaon will be solved on the basis of land record, the briefing was told.

UNB reports that the deputy director general level meeting also decided to arrange study tours between the two countries for promoting amity. Each group will contain 25 students, it added.