A six-member delegation, including BSF Director General Rakesh Asthana has arrived in Dhaka's Peelkhana in connection with the Border Conference between the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) of India at the Director General level (18-19 September 2020).
The formal meeting of the BGB-BSF Director General level border conference will begin on Thursday (September 17) morning at the conference room of the BGB headquarters.
According to BGB officials, the most important issue in this year's talks will be the issue of stopping border violence and the other smuggling including drugs.
According to Ain- o -Salish Kendro, 15 people died on the Bangladesh-India border in 2018. And in the first 8 months of this year, 33 Bangladeshis have been killed.
Again, new drug routes are being created at the border due to the increase in drug and other smuggling. Those issues are also to be discussed in the meeting.
When asked, Lieutenant Colonel Faizur Rahman, director of the BGB's operations department, said Bangladesh would take the issue of border violence seriously again and again. It has been regularly discussed at various levels. Besides, other smuggling including drugs, barbed wire installation in the border zone will be discussed.
Meanwhile, the delegation including the BSF Director General entered Bangladesh through Akhaura ICP on Wednesday (September 16) and was welcomed by the Regional Commander, North-East Region, Sarail.
Sector Commander, BGB Cumilla, BGB Headquarters, Dhaka, Director (Planning), Director Operations (Sarail Region), Captain Sarail Battalion (25 BGB), Captain Sultanpur Battalion (60 BGB) and other concerned officers were present on the occasion.
Then the delegation came to Sultanpur Battalion by road. The delegation later landed at Dhaka's Tejgaon Old Airport in a BGB helicopter from the Sultanpur Battalion.
At Tejgaon old Airport BGB Director General Major General Safinul Islam welcomed Director General Rakesh Asthana and greeted him with flowers.
A 13-member Bangladesh delegation led by Major General Safinul Islam will participate in the conference to be at Pelkhana BGB conference room.
Apart from the Additional Director General of BGB and the concerned staff officers of the BGB headquarters, the Bangladesh delegation will be represented by the concerned officials of the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Joint River Commission and Land Records and Survey Department.
A six-member Indian delegation led by BSF Director General Rakesh Asthana will participate in the conference. The Indian delegation includes senior officials from BSF headquarters and officials from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs and External Affairs.
The Border Conference will end on September 19 at 8:30 am with the signing of the (JRD-Joint Record of Discussions). After the conference, the BSF delegation will leave Dhaka on the same day.