Bangladesh foreign secretary meets Indian envoy amid border tensions

Bangladesh’s foreign secretary held a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma in Dhaka on Sunday (Jan 12) and expressed his “deep concerns” over recent tensions along the border. State-run news agency BSS earlier reported that Verma had been “summoned” by Foreign Secretary Md. Jashim Uddin; however, that term was not used in the official press release issued by the foreign ministry.

Issues raised by Bangladesh’s foreign secretary

The agenda of the meeting, which began at 3:00 pm local time and lasted 45 minutes, was to discuss recent border tensions, especially between the border security forces of respective nations.

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"We have an understanding with regard to fencing the border for security. BSF and BGB (Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh) have been in communication in this regard,” said Verma shortly after holding the meeting.

Border tensions

Earlier, Bangladesh accused India of violating bilateral agreements citing the construction of fences at five locations along the Indo-Bangladesh border by the BSF.

Calling such construction activities unauthorised, Md. Jashim Uddin stated that this has “caused tensions and disturbances along the border.”

The secretary added that the BSF and the BGB will hold DG-level talks in the coming days, and he hoped the matter will be resolved then. There are allegations that India is undertaking “unauthorised” construction of fences in these areas: Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Lalmonirhat, and the Tin Bigha Corridor.

The foreign secretary is also believed to have expressed his displeasure over the recent killing of a Bangladeshi citizen by the BSF.

He "strongly resented these acts of killing and called for urgent action by the Indian authorities to stop recurrence of such incidents and conduct enquiries into all these border killings and take actions against those responsible," a statement issued by Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said.

The press release added that it was also "a matter of grave concern that despite repeated firm commitments from the Indian authorities to pursue a non-lethal strategy and to stop killings, such incidents of killing have been continuing.”

Earlier, Bangladesh Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd.) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury claimed that the Border Guard Bangladesh and locals had forced the BSF to halt the construction work.

Alam said that of the total 4,156-kilometre-long border, fencing has already been done along 3,271 kilometres. Only 885 kilometres remain to be fenced, which has already drawn criticism from the new interim government in Bangladesh.

The new administration has alleged that the previous government of deposed PM Sheikh Hasina allowed India to enjoy unequal opportunities.

(With inputs from agencies)