India, Bangladesh Sign Pact To initiate 5 Joint Development Projects For Border Population

A senior officer reported that the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh have made a "momentous" decision to start collaborative civil works on five development projects along the 4,096 km of shared border that will benefit the local population on both sides. The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also stated that they are working individually and together to "reduce" the cases of killing of Bangladeshi nationals in the boundary area at the conclusion of their four-day biannual border discussions meeting, which started on July 11 in Delhi.

The BSF has attributed these fatalities to criminals and smugglers who either attack its soldiers or do other cross-border crimes, and this issue has been a major source of friction between the two neighbours.

The directors general (DsG) of the BSF and the BGB presided over the 53rd edition of the meeting, which concluded with the signing of a "joint record of discussions" at a BSF camp in the Chhawla neighbourhood of the capital.

"At this conference, a momentous decision was made that will have a profound positive impact on the lives of the people along the India-Bangladesh border, a total of five developmental projects were agreed upon, enhancing the region's joint efforts towards progress and prosperity."

"This decision is a significant step towards improving overall quality of life and will serve to foster stronger bilateral trade and relations between the two countries," said the BSF in a statement.

These five development initiatives include the construction of a bailey bridge, the repair of roads, and the upgrading of retaining walls along India's eastern flank's five states of Assam, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura.