Dhaka expresses deep concern over border fencing by India

Staff Reporter:
Dhaka yesterday expressed deep concern to New Delhi over the recent activities of the Border Se-curity Force (BSF) of attempting to construct fencing along the Bangladesh-India Border while summoning Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh.
Indian envoy Pranay Verma was summoned by the foreign ministry. The envoy appeared at the ministry at around 3pm yesterday and Bangladesh foreign secretary Md Jashim Uddin hold a meet-ing that was lasted around 45 minutes.
“The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary expressed deep concern of government of Bangladesh to the High Commissioner of India Pranay Verma at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the recent activities of the Indian BSF’s bid to contract barbed wire fencing along the Bangladesh-India Border,” a foreign ministry’s press release said yesterday.
During the meeting with the Indian envoy, the foreign secretary stressed that such activities par-ticularly the unauthorized attempt to construct barbed wire fencing and the related operational ac-tions by BSF, have caused tensions and disturbances along the border.
Jashim Uddin emphasized that the construction of barbed wire fences without proper authorization undermines the spirit of cooperation and friendly relations between the two neighboring countries.
The foreign secretary hoped that the upcoming BGB-BSF DG Level Talks would be able to discuss the matter at length.
Referring to the recent killing of a Bangladesh citizen at Sunamganj by BSF, Jashim Uddin also expressed deep concern and disappointment over such repetition of border killings.
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 ac-tions against those responsible.
The foreign secretary mentioned that it is also a matter of grave concern that despite repeated firm commitments from the Indian authorities to pursue non-lethal strategy and to stop killings, such incidents of killing have been continuing.
The foreign secretary called upon New Delhi to advise all concerned authorities in India to refrain from any provocative actions that could escalate tensions along the shared border.
He also mentioned, Bangladesh believes that such issues should be resolved through constructive dialogue, in accordance with existing bilateral agreements, and in a way that upholds peace and tranquility along the border.
“We have understanding with regard to fencing the border for security. Our two boarder guard en-forcements – BSF and BGB – have been in communication in this regards. We expect the under-standings will be implemented and that cooperative approach to combating crime,” Verma told reporters after the meeting at the ministry.
The high commission also said he and the foreign secretary also discussed Indian commitment to ensuring the crimes along the border, effectively addressing the challenges of smuggling, move-ments of criminal and trafficking.
Earlier, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the foreign minis-try had been apprised of the situation and indicated that the Indian envoy might be summoned to address the matter.
The India-Bangladesh border, one of the world’s longest international boundaries, has historically been a source of contention.