Bangladeshi delegation arrives in Agartala for DM-DC level talks

A 25-member Bangladeshi delegation arrived here on Monday to discuss issues related to border crimes.

The team, consists of four districts heads of Bangladesh, was officially received at the Akhaura check post by Indian officials.

Beside the district heads, the district police heads and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) official and other officials are also part of the visiting team.

The Bangladeshi delegation will hold talks with their Indian counterpart on Tuesday.

"There has been a treaty between the Indian and Bangladesh Government regarding holding talks every six months between the DMs and DCs of the two nations. The talks will be there between four districts of Bangladesh and six of Tripura," said Abhishek Singh, District Magistrate and Collector of West Tripura district.

The District Magistrates and other officials of Tripura's six districts will meet the Deputy Commissioners of four Bangladesh districts on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss and finalize the strategies to deal with border crime, fencing and better coordination between the district administrations on both sides.

"Mainly the issues will be related to trans-border crime, smuggling, border pillar related issues, trafficking, import-export, ICP and other issued will be discussed," said Singh.

He further such District Magistrate-level meetings would help both India and Bangladesh to resolve the pending problems and petty issues quickly.

The District Magistrates of Tripura's West Tripura, Unokoti, North Tripura, Khowai, Dhalai and Sepahijala, while the Deputy Commissioners of Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria, Moulavi Bazar, Rangamati and Habiganj would take part the meeting.

Meantime, Moulavi Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamrul Hassan said that they have come to India to attend the DC-level talks that will start from tomorrow.

"We shall discuss various issues related to the long border between India and Bangladesh...... Beside pillar, border haat, we shall also discuss border related crimes, smuggling," Md Hassan said.

"For the first time such an initiative has been taken and we are very hopeful that such talks will continue in the future. Next a team from India will also go to Bangladesh and it will take place twice every year," he added.

The governments of India and Bangladesh had earlier decided to hold District Magistrate-level meetings to resolve various issues.

The District Magistrates and other officials of Tripura's four districts - Sipahijala, Gomti, South Tripura and Dhalai - met in Agartala earlier on January 9 and 10 with the Deputy Commissioners of Bangladesh's five districts of Comilla, Feni, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Chittagong.

Similar conferences would also be held in the other north-eastern states of Assam and Meghalaya to sort out border issues.