Border killings, drug smuggling to dominate BGB-BSF talks

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) Director General (DG) Rakesh Asthana arrived in Dhaka Wednesday to join a four-day border conference between Bangladeshi and Indian border guards which will formally begin Thursday at the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) headquarters in the capital.

“A six-member BSF delegation led by its DG Rakesh Asthana arrived in city by a BGB helicopter entering Bangladesh through Akhaura Integrated Check Post (ICP) to join the (rescheduled) BGB-BSF four-day DG level boarder conference (from September 16 to 19),” said a BGB press release in Dhaka Wednesday afternoon, reports BSS.

The formal meeting will start at 10:45am on September 17 (Thursday) at the conference room in the BGB Headquarters in the city, earlier said another BGB press release on Tuesday.

According to the release, BGB Director General (DG) Major General Md Shafeenul Islam will lead a 13-member Bangladesh delegation while his BSF counterpart Rakesh Asthana will lead the six-member delegation in the conference.

The conference will conclude with the signing of a Joint Record of Discussions (JRD) on September 19.

The BGB-BSF DG Level Talks (DGLTs) were scheduled for September 13-18, but it was postponed on September 13 as the BSF delegation could not reach Dhaka on the day due to a technical glitch in their aircraft.

According to officials, the issue of killings on the border is likely to dominate largely the talks between Bangladeshi and Indian border guards as chiefs of the two paramilitary forces set to meet in the four-day conference.