Will seek to scrap 'uneven agreements' with India: Bangladesh home adviser

Bangladesh's interim government on Wednesday said that it would seek to scrap some "uneven agreements" on borders with India during the meeting of the directors general of the border guards of the two countries next month.

"Discussions will be held over all sorts of border-related agreements with India, Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd.) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said. 

 

He said the Bangladeshi side would seek to cancel some uneven agreements related to border management alongside and discuss other related issues.

He said that northeastern Kulaura Railway Station is an inter-country railway station which is situated three kilometres inside Bangladesh while Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) intends not to allow free entry of Indians there and instead proposes the installation of an immigration checkpoint with a customs facility on the border.

BGB chief Maj Gen Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui is set to hold the meeting with Border Security Force (BSF) counterpart Daljit Singh Chaudhary in Delhi from February 17 to 20.

The home adviser said the other issues include the killing of Bangladesh nationals in border areas, infiltrations of Indian nationals, common rivers, and smuggling of weapons and drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives into Bangladesh.

He said some contraband drugs are smuggled to Bangladesh in the name of medicine, which are in fact narcotics.

Chowdhury said unapproved development works being done by India within 150 yards along the border, detention of Bangladeshis by the BSF and Indian nationals would feature in the talks.

The adviser said marking border lines at the disputed Muhurir Char area, border pillar installations, and a coordinated border management plan are other prominent issues.

He said the meeting would propose the installation of water treatment plants in four canals where wastewater flows from India's northeastern Agartala to Bangladesh's Akhaura.

The spread of rumours about Bangladesh's current situation by Indian media and social networking sites will also come for discussion in the upcoming meeting, he said.

He made the comments after an inter-ministerial preparatory meeting at his office ahead of the 55th BGB-BSF DG-level conference.

If any work is done within 150 yards of the border, permission from both sides is required. There is no rule to do these things unilaterally. If a mosque or temple is built, consent from both countries is required, Chowdhury said.

He said the Bangladesh side would ask India to lay importance on the issue in future.

The adviser said various initiatives to enhance mutual trust and goodwill between the two countries would also be discussed.