50th BSF-BGB high-level talks begin in Dhaka today

The biannual talks between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) director-general Major General M Shafeenul Islam and Border Security Force (BSF) head Rakesh Asthana will begin on Sunday in BGB's Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka. The meeting will last for six days and end on September 18.

This is the 50th such meeting between the director-general of the border forces of both nations. The discussions will deal with issues like cross-border trafficking of drugs and individuals, trans-border crimes, activities of Indian insurgent groups in Bangladesh and smuggling of fake currency notes.

BSF delegation will also raise the issue of cross-border infiltration strongly with its Bangladesh counterpart.

The Border Guard Bangladesh is expected to raise the issue of the rising number of deaths at the Indo-Bangla border. BGB has raised concern regarding the death of unarmed individuals and said that Bangladesh has laid high importance to violence on borders, according to news agency PTI.

BGB's operations director Lieutenant Colonel Fayzur Rahman while speaking to the Daily Star, a Dhaka-based English daily, said that Bangladesh would primarily focus on the border killings during the meeting.

He further added, "The entry of waste from India through Akhaura-Agartala ICP [check post] will also get priority in the talks as we have been trying hard to stop the inflow of such waste," while speaking to the Daily Star.

BSF sector commanders, personnel from the Narcotics Control Bureau and representatives of the External Affairs Ministry will also join BSF DG Rakesh Asthana in Dhaka.

The biannual meet has been held since 1975 in order to discuss the management of the 4,096 km long borders. These talks are once held in Bangladesh and once in Delhi.