Amid crisis, India's big move on border talks with Bangladesh

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) A high-level diplomatic delegation of Bangladesh may arrive in India next month for the traditional bi-annual border talks with their New Delhi counterparts, official sources said.

The talks between the two sides, led by the BSF director general (DG) and the DG of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), will be the first meeting of senior officials of the two neighbours for the exchange and sharing of information after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government last month.

Sources told PTI that India has proposed two sets of dates for these talks, one for later this month and the second for October.

The Bangladeshi side has indicated that they may go for the later date and may travel to India for about four-five days, including the days of arrival and exit, they said.

This will be the 55th edition of the DG-level talks between the BSF and the BGB which also includes officials from the Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, anti-narcotics, customs and some other federal agencies from both the countries who have stakes in border management.

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

During that meeting, the Indian delegation led by then BSF DG Nitin Agrawal was able to extract Bangladesh's consent for the creation of a single-row fence at 92 vulnerable patches along the more than 4,000-km-long front, sources said.

"This decision, first approved in 2012, was also recorded by the two sides in the joint record of discussions signed at the end of the meeting. It was a major gain for India as this completed fence infrastructure will further strengthen security along the India-Bangladesh boundary," said an officer who was part of these deliberations.

The BSF guards the 4,096-km-long international Indian front with Bangladesh on the country's eastern side.

While the sources said the forthcoming meeting will be held on the traditional issues and subjects related to "comprehensive" border management, curbing of cross-border crimes, mutual coordination in sharing of real-time intelligence along the front and the recent developments in Bangladesh "may guide the contours" of the meeting.

India's BSF and Bangladesh's BGB have been sharing a "great camaraderie and friendship" for decades now and both sides are expected to deepen this bond.

Since the recent crisis, when Sheikh Hasina's government fell and she had to hurriedly leave her country, the coordination between both forces has been excellent, the sources said.

"Things were a little jittery for some time at the border after the August 5 developments but the BGB has been coordinating and cooperating well with the BSF to address and defuse incidents of infiltration or any other crime at this front," a senior officer said.

The directions to the BSF are that they will ensure there is no illegal infiltration into India in the aftermath of the fall of the Hasina government and the protests and violence surrounding the development, another officer said.

The BSF has asked its ground commanders to continue the policy of using non-lethal weapons (pump-action guns) first to check border crimes like cattle and goods smuggling.

The troops have been asked to use lethal weapons only under grave or extreme threat to their lives while on duty or civilians, the other officer said.

Five Indian nationals, who strayed into Bangladesh territory onboard their boats, have not been handed over to India despite a request in this regard. They have now been sent to jail. The incident took place weeks after the August 5 turmoil in the neighbouring country.

These men were operating boats to check cattle smuggling on the directions of the BSF along the international border in West Bengal, the officer said.

The proposed talks are expected to take into account all the developments that are taking place along the front after the Bangladesh crisis, he said.

The scheduled time frame for these talks to be held in Delhi is for September-October but the meeting may also be postponed if top-level changes take place in the BGB and the home ministry of Bangladesh. The Indian side will extend all courtesies and welcome them like always, the first officer said.

The DG-level border talks were held annually between 1975 and 1992 but they were made bi-annual in 1993 with either side alternately travelling to New Delhi and Dhaka.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students.

An interim government led by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is in charge of the country now. PTI