BD calls upon India to refrain from escalating border tensions

ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh has called upon India to advise all the authorities concerned within its country to refrain from any provocative actions that could escalate tensions along the shared border.

BD Foreign Secretary Ambassador Muhammad Jashim Uddin has conveyed his country’s deep concern to Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma during a meeting at his office on Sunday.

The meeting was regarding recent activities of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the Bangladesh-India border.

Earlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (R) Muhammad Jahangir Alam Chowdhury indicated that the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka might be summoned to discuss the border issues.

High Commissioner Verma came to Foreign Office amid reports of heightened tensions along the border. The BD Foreign Secretary, while referring to the recent killing of a Bangladeshi citizen at Sunamganj by Indian BSF, expressed deep concern and disappointment over such Force (BSF) along the Bangladesh-India border. Earlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (R) Muhammad Jahangir Alam Chowdhury indicated that the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka might be summoned to discuss the border issues. High Commissioner Verma came to Foreign Office amid reports of heightened tensions along the border. The BD Foreign Secretary, while referring to the recent killing of a Bangladeshi citizen at Sunamganj by Indian BSF, expressed deep concern and disappointment over such repetition of border killings. He strongly resented these acts of killing and called for urgent action by the Indian authorities to stop the recurrence of such incidents and conduct enquiries into all these border killings and take action against those responsible. Jashim Uddin said that it was also a matter of grave concern despite repeated firm commitments from the Indian authorities to pursue a non-lethal strategy and to stop such incidents of killing. The India-Bangladesh border, one of the longest international borders in the world, has often been a point of contention, with incidents ranging from border security issues to the movement of people. The state-run BD’s BSS news agency earlier reported that Verma was “summoned” by the foreign ministry to discuss escalating tensions along the border. However, a press statement issued by the foreign ministry did not use that term.