Bangladeshi and Indian border guards will patrol vulnerable border points jointly while they will take additional precautionary measures to lower the number of casualties, officials said Thursday.
In a meeting, they also decided to reduce the number of injuries and stop assaulting unarmed citizens.
The decision was taken during a four-day regional border conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) that ended in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The frontier conference between the BGB Regional Commanders (Rangpur and Jessore Region) and Frontier Inspector Generals (South Bengal, North Bengal and Guwahati Frontier) of BSF began on November 13.
Read more: BGB-BSF DG-level border conference begins in Dhaka
Commander of BGB’s North-West region, Rangpur, Brigadier General A B M Nowroj Ehsan had led an 11-member Bangladesh delegation, while BSF South Bengal Frontier Inspector General Dr. Atul Fulzele had led a 12-member Indian delegation in the conference.
During the conference, BSF South Bengal Frontier Inspector General Dr. Atul Fulzele referred to the existing cordial relationship between the two border guarding forces and emphasised on the joint efforts of both forces to implement an effective 'Integrated Border Management Plan (CBMP)'.
Brig Gen Ehsan highlighted the importance of following the Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines-1975 and effectively implementing the CBMP to resolve the border issues and also cited the role of both the border guarding forces in maintaining peace and order along the border.
Read more: BGB-BSF border conference underway in Jashore
During the conference, both sides agreed that increased joint patrolling by BGB and BSF will prevent smuggling along the border.
They also decided to exchange information between the two forces immediately to take effective action against those involved and apprehended in order to eliminate various types of cross-border crimes, especially smugglings of yaba, phensidyl, various types of drugs, narcotic tablets, gold, arms and cattle.