Agartala, Nov 27 (IANS): Border guards of India and Bangladesh have decided to fortify their vigil along the frontiers and jointly work more vigorously to curb trans-border crimes, officials said on Friday after the three-day Border Co-ordination Conference (BCC) of the BSF and the BGB.
A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman said that during the three-day conference, trans-border crimes, including smuggling of narcotic substances, pending developmental works, erection of border fencing and important bilateral border issues were discussed. The Co-ordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) was also discussed at length in the conference.
"Leaders of both BSF and BGB agreed to initiate preemptive measures in creating an environment of peace and tranquillity along the international border by amicably resolving all the pending issues and further strengthening the bond of friendship, trust and cooperation," the spokesman told the media.
In the BCC, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) delegation was headed by its Additional Director General, Khondoker Farid Hassan, while the BSF delegation was led by Tripura frontier Inspector General (IG), Susanta Kumar Nath.
IGs of Mizoram and Cachar (Assam) frontier and Meghalaya frontier, Sunil Kumar and Hardeep Singh, respectively, also attended the BCC.
BSF Tripura frontier IG Nath told the meeting that it is the sincere commitment of both the border guarding forces to maintain peace and harmony along the international border and to strengthen the already robust friendly relations.
The BSF spokesman said that the leaders of both the delegations, after discussing various issues at length, came to the conclusion that the border issues of bilateral interests should be resolved amicably to achieve the common goal of establishing peace and tranquillity along the international boundary.
"Over the past few years, BSF and BGB have jointly cemented their friendly relationship and acquired new dimensions in mutual trust and cooperation by resolving the border issues through meaningful dialogues," he said.
The BSF official added that India and Bangladesh share common history, culture and social ethics besides sharing 4,096 km international border, including 1,116 km of riverine boundary. The relations between the two countries are harmonious and friendly.
"Both the border guarding forces -- BSF and BGB -- share a very cordial relationship at both professional and human level. Such BCC meeting would further strengthen the ties by addressing various border issues of bilateral interests," he pointed out.
Four northeastern states -- Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) -- share 1,880 km border with Bangladesh while West Bengal shares 2,216 km frontiers with the neighbouring country.
Besides trans-border crimes, various terrorist outfits of the northeast region use the unfenced and mountainous borders for their cross-border movements.