Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Wednesday held discussions on issues related to cross-border terrorist activities and presence of camps of Indian insurgent groups on Bangladeshi soil as top officers of border forces of the two countries began their five-day meeting here.

Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Raman Srivastava lead the 23-member Indian team while Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) chief Major General Rafiqul Islam headed the 20-member contingent of his country at the meeting.

The Bangladeshi border force was till recently called the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and its name was changed to BGB after the bloody mutiny by its personnel in 2009.

Officials from Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Survey of India are also part of the Indian delegation.

The BSF, according to a senior officer, will raise issues of trans-border crimes committed by Bangladeshi criminals in Indian territory including attacks on BSF personnel and breaching of border fence, smuggling of fake Indian currency notes from Bangladesh and trafficking of women and children.

Matters related to early completion of joint verification of unfenced gaps by both BSF and BGB, maintenance of status quo in areas of adverse possession, presence of Indian insurgent groups and camps in Bangladesh and implementation of joint border management plan will also be discussed.

Sources involved in the talks said BGB will also bring up issues like firing incidents along the border and killing of Bangladeshi personnel.

A joint memorandum will be signed by both the forces on March 12.

BSF and BGB man the 4,096-km-long Indo-Bangladesh border and the last talks between the two sides were held in Dhaka last year.

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