Work on border fencing on Indo-Bangla border to be completed: Official

India has a border stretching 4,096 kilometre with Bangladesh

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Work for erection of barbed wire fencing along the Indo-Bangla International Border (IB) would be completed by 2017, a top official said today.

"India has set a target of finishing the barbed wire fencing along the Indo-Bangla international border by 2017," Susheel Kuman, secretary (Border Management) under the Union Home Ministry, said.

Kumar, who arrived here on a three-day tour yesterday, is now visiting the barbed wire construction works in different parts of Tripura's border with Bangladesh.

He reviewed the progress of the fencing works in a meeting with officials of the state government, including the Chief Secretary Y P Singh, DGP K Nagraj, district magistrates and all the implementing agencies and the Border Security Force yesterday.

Kumar said that this issue was discussed with all the bordering state governments, including West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, earlier.

"Wherever fencing is required, it would be constructed and where riverine stretches are present, no fencing would be constructed because it worked as natural barrier," he said.

Kumar said that local problems would be sorted out through discussions and where fencing is required on the zero point of the border would be taken up with the Bangladesh government and the matters would be sorted out through negotiation."

India constructed border fencing 100 yards away from the international border, leaving a large tract of agricultural and homestead land outside the fencing to adhere to Border Management agreement signed in 1975.

India has a border stretching 4,096 kilometre (km) with Bangladesh, and Tripura, which is girded by the neighbouring countries in three sides, has a 856-km long border.