Barbed wire fencing on Bangladesh-India border in Tripura by the Indian government and recent rise in border killing by the BSF will be the major issues in the upcoming talks between the two neighbouring states.
The joint border talks and visits will be held from 13-18 of this month and a joint declaration is expected after the formal meeting on September 17, people familiar with the development said.
The issues will also dominate the upcoming Joint Consultative Commission meeting, expected to be held later this month.
According to the foreign ministry, the Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar had a telephonic conversation with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday. They agreed to hold the consultation virtually.
Recently, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said the border killing recorded a rise in the first half of this year and Bangladesh raised the concern over it during the foreign secretary-level meetings last month when India's top diplomat made a surprise visit to Bangladesh.
The Indian side has pledged that the BSF will be asked to refrain from such untoward incidents.
"Indian foreign secretary assured us that he will personally talk to the head of the BSF to take due measures to stop such killings" the secretary said after the meeting.
Meanwhile, after a pause, the Indian state of Tripura has recently started the barbed wire fencing in unfenced areas of international border with Bangladesh, even as the border curfew was imposed along the 856 km Indo-Bangla border during COVID-19 lockdown, Indian media reported.
Bangladesh had earlier raised objections to the fencing on 11 points. According to the home ministry officials, the objection was raised as the Indian side was planning to erect the fence violating the agreement, which forbids construction of anything within 150 meters of the zero point.
"It was not intentional on their part as due to the rough terrain Indian side intended to move the fence closer by 10 or 15 meters on these 11 points," an official said adding that since it violates the agreement between the two countries, the BGB lodged the complaint.
Recently, the Indian side has made a request to the home ministry seeking withdrawal of the objection, but the ministry said that it was not its jurisdiction, and it needed negotiation at the higher level.
"The Indian side has assured us that they would not do anything violating the agreement," an official familiar with the development told the FE.
"BSF made a temporary barrier with barbed wire coils at these unfenced patches when lockdown was first imposed. We have now instructed NBCC, the designated construction agency, to start work of barbed wire fence in three places. We have set them a target to finish composite row fencing in 1.5 km within June. However, single row fencing will be done in the rest of the 8.5 km unfenced border in this district", an official of Tripura told the Indian media.
Several parts of South Tripura district, especially Sabroom in the southernmost tip of the state adjoining Bangladesh, are unfenced.
The Feni River serves as a natural barrier and riverine border in these areas.
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