Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said the government has adopted a plan to develop the Border Guard Bangladesh as a world-class border security force.

“The government has adopted the 'Border Guard Bangladesh Vision-2041' in a bid to develop the BGB as a world-class border guard force,” she said while addressing the parade of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Day-2022 at its headquarters in the capital.

 Hasina asked the BGB members to continue performing their responsibilities always, including protecting borders, combating smuggling, drug, women-children trafficking, inter-border crimes, and providing security to the lives and property of the people living in the bordering areas.

She also extended her sincere thanks to the BGB members as they have been performing their responsibilities with competence.

The PM said the border guards played a responsible role during the peaceful exchange of enclaves between Bangladesh and India. “We set an example for the world by exchanging enclaves amid a festive atmosphere,” she said.

During the Rohingya influx into Bangladesh, BGB also carried out their responsibilities with efficiency, including the registration of the displaced people, she added.

Focusing on the modernisation of BGB during her regime, Sheikh Hasina said the Awami League government has carried out massive development works and enacted a new law in order to enhance the capacity of the force under the BGB reform initiative.

“BGB got the organizational shape of an efficient, strong, modern three-dimensional force,” she said, adding that now BGB is capable of performing its duty on land, water and air.

The PM said her government has adopted the 'Border Guard Bangladesh Vision-2041' in a bid to develop the BGB as a world-class border guard force.

The 'Smart Digital Surveillance and Tactical Border Response System' has been installed at vulnerable border areas for seamless surveillance and countering trans-border terrorism, she said.

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Thanks to addition of the advanced and up-to-date weapons and equipment to the BGB, its operational capacity and competence has been enhanced, she noted.

The PM said the present government has taken a plan to construct a total of 1,036 km of border roads with an aim of increasing the security of the hilly border areas and uplifting the socio-economic condition of the people living in the remote areas.

The construction of 317 km border road in the first phase is in progress, she informed.

The premier thanked the BGB for removing the words “Pak” or “Pakistan” from 14,005 border pillars on Bangladesh-India border and writing “Bangladesh” or “BD” in their places.

She called upon members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to carry out their assigned responsibilities with utmost sincerity and not to break discipline under any circumstance.

“Discipline and chain of command are the most important driving forces of any disciplined force. Never break discipline. Carry out the assigned responsibility and follow the chain of command,” she said.

The premier was addressing the parade of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Day-2022 at its headquarters in Dhaka.

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Sheikh Hasina said an unthinkable tragedy occurred only 52 days after the formation of her government in 2009. “The whole nation expects that such an incident won’t occur anymore,” she said.

The PM prayed for the salvation of the departed souls who were martyred during the tragedy and expressed sympathy for the bereaved families.

On her arrival at the venue, the PM was received by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Senior Secretary of Public Security Division Aminul Islam Khan and BGB Director General Major General Shakil Ahmed.

The premier inspected the parade at Bir Uttam Anwar Hossain Parade Ground of BGB headquarters in Peelkhana.

The PM handed over the BGB Medal, President BGB Medal, BGB Medal-Service and President BGB Medal-Service to a selected BGB members in recognition of their courageous and outstanding contribution to different activities of the force.