Indo-Bangla border talks in Dhaka from today

New Delhi: Smuggling of fake new notes is among a host of issues to be discussed at the bi-annual talks between the chiefs of the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh beginning on Sunday in Dhaka.
A 19-member delegation led by Border Security Force (BSF) chief K K Sharma will hold the talks at the Peelkhana-based headquarters of their counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Dhaka, a senior official said.
The five-day trip, that began on Saturday, will end on February 22 when the Indian delegation will cross over after signing of a joint record of discussions.
Officials said apart from regular issues of border crimes, the Indian side is expected to bring on table the recent incidents of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) of Rs 2000 denomination being smuggled from the other side.
The BSF, few days back, had seized a big consignment of 100 such fake notes, of the face value of Rs two lakh, from Malda along the Indo-Bangla International Border (IB).
A similar cache of 40 fake notes of Rs 2000 denomination was also recently seized by West Bengal police from the border district of Murshidabad. The Indian side is expected to urge their counterparts to crack down on elements indulging in any kind of activity in their territory related to FICN.
The two sides are also expected to discuss issues related to trans-border crimes including instances of cattle smuggling, activities of Indian insurgent groups based in Bangladesh, prevention of illegal migration, joint efforts for effective implementation of common agenda programmes and host of other confidence building measures, the officials said.
“The two sides will also take up issues that were discussed when the BGB delegation visited India in October last year. The relations between the two forces are very cordial and the aim of these talks is to take them forward in the right spirit,” they said.
After the October meeting at the BSF headquarters here, the two sides had decided to erect a new fence to secure over 250 villages ahead of the present barbed-wire fence along the IB to curb cross-border crimes and instill a sense of security among the people living in the area.
Indian officials will be interacting with the BGB delegation, led by its new Director General (DG) Maj Gen Abul Hossain, who took over recently from Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed, who has now gone back to his parent cadre in the Bangladesh army.  India shares a 4,096-km border with Bangladesh and this will be the 44th DG-level talks between the two sides. (PTI)