BGB-BSF meet at Shillong Monday

AGARTALA, Dec 9 (bdnews24.com): Four days of talks between Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF), intended to strengthen the ties further between the border guards, are set to start in northeast Meghalaya state capital Shillong from Monday Brigadier General Abu Sayeek Khan, second-in-command of the BGB, will lead the Bangladesh team while the Indian side, consisting of 11 sector commanders, will be led by senior inspector general from Delhi S K Mishra. "The main aim of the assembly is confidence building between the border guards for better management, by joint patrolling and fast exchange of inputs along the vulnerable patches of the international border," said a senior BSF office, on condition of anonymity. While Bangladesh may raise the issue of smuggling of Phensidyl cough syrup, a source within the BSF said that India will push the issue of alleged camps of anti-India elements in Bangladesh territory, smuggling, border crime and fake Indian currency. However, in recent times, with the improvement of relations between Bangladesh and India, incidents of firing and deaths of infiltrators in shooting by Indian security force along the border have considerably come down. The source added that "the numbers of Indian militant camps have gone down" but there are "still around 50 camps in Bangladesh territory", even though a good number of them have shifted towards Myanmar. According to the BSF, during the last one year, particularly after the visit of the prime ministers, there has been a positive development in the relations which has also made an impact on the border guarding forces. Recently, Dhaka has allowed New Delhi to erect fencing along the 'zero line' along some patches, besides allowing transit of goods through Bangladesh into northeast India. In return, India has committed not to use deadly weapons against infiltrators and substituted live ammunition with rubber bullets due to which cases of deaths in BSF firing during the last six months are almost nil, the BSF source said. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km border along the state of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.