BGB, BSF pledge to jointly secure a peaceful border

The four-day long conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India came to an end on Saturday in Dhaka.

Director Generals of both sides headed the conference. Both forces pledged to jointly secure a peaceful border. BSF Director General (DG) Rakesh Asthana said that they are working out a strategy to bring down the killings in India-Bangladesh border areas to zero. BGB DG Major General Shafeenul Islam and BSF DG Rakesh Asthana jointly addressed a press conference on Saturday in Dhaka's BGB Headquarters.

Both BGB and BSF agreed to launch joint operations against cross-border smugglers upon receipt of specific intelligence on their criminal activities. Both sides recognized the increasingly violent attacks on them by cross-border cattle smuggling gangs.

BGB appreciated the systematic campaign launched by BSF against smuggling of codeine-based cough syrup in the bordering districts of India.Both the forces also agreed that identification of vulnerable areas needs to be in responsive to the new methods being adopted by the trans-border smuggling syndicates.

The list of smugglers will be made on real time basis, BGB and BSF stated. Both sides will nominate officials as nodal points for exchanging real time intelligence.Both forces agreed that only non-lethal weapons will be used on the India-Bangladesh border.

All unarmed and innocent trespassers and victims of human trafficking will be handed over to respective force.Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) for identifying nationality of mentally challenged persons will be created.Both forces agreed to work out a mechanism in consultation with agencies/ministries concerned to facilitate daily passes for residents of bordering villages.

Reiterating the policy of zero tolerance against terrorism, BGB has requested specific intelligence and proposed conducting joint operations against insurgent groups, if any.Both BGB and BSF agreed to extend cooperation in completing all river bank protection works in the bordering areas of Bangladesh as per the approval of Joint River Commission.

The onset of Covid 19 pandemic has compelled both the forces to stop coordinated patrols on the border. Both forces agreed to resume these patrols on the border to build up mutual confidence within both the forces and also to reduce cross border crimes. Both the border guarding forces decided to continue their confidence-building measures and training programs after the ongoing pandemic subsides.