By Sumi Khan

Dhaka, Sep 12 (IANS): The 50th edition of the biannual talks between the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and its Indian counterpart, the Border Security Force (BSF) will take place in Dhaka from Sunday.

BGB Director-General Major General M Shafeenul Islam and his newly-appointed Indian counterpart Rakesh Asthana will lead the six-day talks BGB's Pilkhana headquarters.

The issue of killings on the Indo-Bangla border is likely to dominate the talks, BGB officials told IANS.

Asthana will be accompanied by BSF sector commanders, officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau and representatives of the External Affairs Ministry.

The Indian side will focus on issues such as cross-border smuggling, especially drugs; construction of different structures like barbed wire fencing and other installations; and fake currency.

The Bangladesh side will concentrate on killings at the Indo-Bangladesh border which is an important issue to improve relations between the two forces, alongside other areas of mutual interest, said Lieutenant Colonel Fayzur Rahman, operations director of BGB.

At least 33 Bangladeshi nationals were killed along the countries' frontiers until August 2020.

According to the human rights group in Dhaka, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), 15 people were killed along the border in 2018.

Meanwhile, officials in both New Delhi and Dhaka have said that at the end of the talks, the BGB and BSF chiefs were likely to sign a joint accord.