SHILLONG, June 24 � The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) today agreed to exercise restraint in areas of dispute along the Indo-Bangla border and not engage in any sort of confrontation.
In an Inspector General-level meeting held at Tamabil today, the Indian side was represented by RC Saxena, the frontier chief of Assam and Meghalaya. The Deputy Director General of BDR, Brigadier Obaidul Haque represented Bangladesh.
�We have strongly voiced our concern and displeasure regarding BDR creating unnecessary tension along the international border. It was agreed that any violation of the border would be settled through discussions and the two sides would not engage in any confrontation,� Saxena told The Assam Tribune over phone from Tamabil.
The meeting was necessitated after the BDR opened fire on Indian villagers on June 15 for venturing into areas of adverse possession for cultivation. One woman was injured in the firing.
Earlier, the BSF rejected an offer for talks at the battalion commandant level holding 21 BDR Commandant Lt Col Khandaker Zahirul Alam responsible for the firing.
Saxena, while rejecting the talks offer at the commandant level, said, �Meetings should be held in a cordial and understanding atmosphere. He (Lt Col Alam) is not having the right frame of mind. So any talks with him wouldn�t be meaningful.� Instead, the BSF insisted on having talks at the sector commandant level.
Both sides, Saxena said, agreed that settlement of areas under adverse possession should be left to the Joint Working Group of both nations scheduled to meet next month to find ways to settle outstanding bilateral border disputes.
Union Home Secretary GK Pillai during his recent visit here said the JWG of India and Bangladesh would meet anytime next month to resolve the boundary disputes between the neighbouring countries.
