India, Bangladesh to set up joint border security coordination committee

Indian and Bangladesh have proposed to constitute a Joint Border Coordination Committee to strengthen security along the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.

This was decided on the concluding day of the two-day bilateral conference of deputy commissioners and district magistrates of Meghalaya (India) and Bangladesh held here.

"This proposal will be placed before both the Indian and Bangladesh governments for a final decision," East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said, while briefing news persons on the resolutions and proposals agreed upon by the two sides on Tuesday.

According to Goyal, both sides proposed the constitution of the Joint Border Coordination Committee with the intention of institutionalizing this kind of set up by involving the civil administration including the concerned deputy commissioners, district police chiefs and officials from the Revenue, Narcotics and Customs department.

"The BSF and BGB would be part of the proposed committee," he clarified.

Speaking on the issue of border crimes, the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner said both sides have mutually agreed upon some 'action plans' to tackle crimes along the international border.

Goyal further informed that officials from both sides exchanged their contact numbers and official email ids for better coordination.

Referring to the list of habitual offenders, Goyal said that a list would be prepared by the concerned district police chiefs of both sides and shared with their respective counterparts on either side of the border.

He also said that it was agreed upon that the civil administration would be involved in sensitizing people on various aspect of border crimes.

On repatriation of convicted persons the coordination meeting also decided that the list of the persons to be repatriated back to their countries would be shared in advance so that such persons can be sent home after serving their jail term. He informed that the meeting observed that district officials from both sides should be members of the boundary conference.