India, Bangladesh to hold bi-annual DG-level border talks in Dhaka from August 25
BSF chief Daljit Singh Chawdhary to lead Indian delegation for 56th DG-level talks with BGB
BSF and BGB officers at an informal Sector Commander-level meeting at BOP Rongra on March 24, 2025. (Photo:@BSF_Meghalaya/X)
New Delhi, Aug 12: India and Bangladesh are set to hold their bi-annual border talks in Dhaka later this month. This will be the first such meeting since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government last year.
A delegation led by Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary will travel to Bangladesh for the 56th director general-level talks with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), a source in the security establishment said.
“The meeting is expected to take place from August 25 to 28 at the BGB headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka. These talks were originally scheduled for July but were postponed due to administrative issues,” the source added.
BSF officials said discussions will cover a range of issues related to cross-border crimes along the 4,096 km-long frontier.
The BSF is expected to raise concerns over illegal infiltration and inform the BGB that it has equipped around 5,000 personnel on this border with body-worn cameras to document incidents such as attacks on its troops by miscreants, enabling stronger action.
However, officials noted that no major policy decisions are likely, given that Bangladesh is currently under an interim government.
The BSF and BGB last met in February, when a Bangladeshi delegation visited India.
During those talks in New Delhi, the two forces agreed to establish a new communication channel between their second-in-command rank officers (additional director general) and identified about 99 new locations for border fencing.
Official data shows that 864.48 km of the India-Bangladesh border remains unfenced, including 174.51 km of “non-feasible” gaps.
Director general-level talks between the two forces were held annually from 1975 to 1992, before becoming a bi-annual engagement in 1993. The meetings are hosted alternately in New Delhi and Dhaka.
The India-Bangladesh border spans five states: West Bengal (2,217 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).
PTI