Rajnath to visit Bangladesh from July 13

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will pay a three-day visit to Bangladesh beginning July 13, during which he will hold discussions on various issues including anti-terror cooperation, attempts by terror groups to radicalise youths and Rohingya refugees, officials said today.

During the visit, the home minister is expected to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discuss various bilateral issues.

In his meeting with Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Singh will discuss ways to strengthen the anti-terror mechanism between the two countries and check radicalisation of youths by terrorist groups, a Home Ministry official said.

The Rohingya issue is also expected to figure in the meeting, the official said.

Singh will be accompanied by top officials of the Home Ministry and the Border Security Force. The delegation will discuss steps to be taken to strengthen the existing mechanism to check movement of illegal immigrants and smuggling of cattle, arms and ammunition, narcotics and other items through the porous Indo-Bangla border.

The Indian side is expected to take up the issue of the continuous inflow of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) from across the border and the attacks on BSF personnel by criminals based in Bangladesh.

FICN with face value of about Rs 13.66 lakh have been seized along the border till March this year, another official said, adding fake notes with face value of more than Rs 68.96 lakh were confiscated last year.

The attacks on BSF personnel by criminals based in Bangladesh is expected to be flagged by the Indian side during the delegation-level talks.

Two BSF men were killed and 122 injured in criminal attacks on this frontier last year. As many as 109 personnel were injured in 2016, the official said.

The Bangladesh side is expected to raise the issue of their nationals being killed or injured in BSF firing along the border and the illegal transport of drugs into their territory from the Indian side.

India shares a 4,096-km-long border with Bangladesh.