New Delhi: A high-level delegation of Bangladesh border guards is set to arrive in India on Wednesday for holding talks with their counterparts BSF, the first meeting between the two sides after an Indian soldier was killed near the border in October.
The 11-member delegation of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be here for six days and will be led by their Director General Maj Gen Shafeenul Islam. The talks will begin from December 26 at a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in south-west Delhi.
Official sources said the BSF will "strongly" take up the issue of the killing of their 51-year-old head constable Vijay Bhan Singh and injury to constable Rajvir Yadav in firing by a BGB trooper near the Kakmarichar border post in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
"This incident had come across as a shocker between the two friendly nations. Not a single bullet has been fired between the two sides for decades. We have been informed by our counterparts that court martial proceedings have been launched against the BGB trooper who is accused to have killed our jawan while two others have been transferred out."
"The meeting will take this issue forward for a justifiable conclusion," a senior officer said.
A BSF spokesperson said the 10-member BSF delegation will be headed by its Director-General V K Johri and will have officials from the Union home and external affairs ministry.
"The bi-annual conference is being organised to discuss border-related issues and for better coordination between the forces. Issues like prevention against attacks and assault on BSF and Indian civilians by Bangladesh criminals and miscreants will be discussed," he said.
Other regular issues that will be discussed during the meeting will include subjects like cattle smuggling, smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, gold, illegal migration and human trafficking.
Issues like breaching or damage of the international border fence, border violation, illegal crossing, kidnapping, abduction and illegal crossing by nationals of countries other than Bangladesh will also be taken up, the spokesperson said.
Action against Indian insurgent groups operating from the Bangladeshi soil is also on the agenda, he added. Some other subjects related to border infrastructure along the 4,096-km front and furthering of confidence building measures are also expected to be discussed.
The two sides will also play a "friendly" volley ball match on December 27. These meetings are held bi-annually and the last time BSF and BGB met was in Dhaka in June this year and is their 49th meeting.
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