Bangladesh puts off next month's border talks with India

The DG-level border talks between India and Bangladesh, scheduled to be held in Delhi next month, have been postponed following a change in plan by the neighbouring country, official sources said on Friday.

The bi-annual talks led by the heads of the Border Security Force (BSF) and its Bangladeshi counterpart the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were to be tentatively held between November 18 and 22 in the national capital, the first such meeting after the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5.

Sources told PTI that the Bangladeshi side informed about the postponement and indicated that they were working on "an early date" for the meeting to be held.

Overall, it will be the 55th edition of the director general (DG)-level talks between the two forces that also includes officials from the home and external affairs ministries, and anti-narcotics, Customs and some other federal agencies from both the countries that have a stake in border management.

The last edition of these talks were held in Dhaka in March.

The BSF guards a 4,096-kilometre-long international front with Bangladesh on India's eastern side.

The sources had earlier said the next meeting, whenever it took place, was expected to be held on the traditional issues and subjects related to "comprehensive" border management, curbing cross-border crimes and mutual coordination in sharing real-time intelligence along the front.

The recent developments in Bangladesh "may guide the contours" of the discussions, they had said.

An interim government led by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is in charge of affairs in Bangladesh at present.

"Overall, the situation is under control along the India-Bangladesh border. There is good connect with our counterparts post the August 5 developments in Bangladesh. However, the field units are on alert mode since that day," a senior BSF officer posted along the frontline said.

A home ministry official said a comprehensive review of this border was recently undertaken at the ministry level and the situation was stated to be "satisfactory".

Some friction points were noted during this review meeting that was chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and the BSF, Customs and immigration authorities deployed along the front were asked to be "ruthless" against illegal infiltration and cross-border crimes, the official said.

At the same time, they have been directed to ensure all humanitarian assistance, like always, in genuine cases, the ministry official added.

The DG-level border talks were held annually between 1975 and 1992 but made bi-annual in 1993 with either side alternatively travelling to the respective national capitals of New Delhi and Dhaka.