India and Bangladesh have agreed to take effective and concrete steps to prevent human trafficking and illegal crossing and share information on organized crime and increase surveillance in areas vulnerable to crimes on the border.
A decision in this regard was taken during the four-day meeting of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Dhaka.
Allaying concerns of BGB Major General Shafeenul Islam over killings along borders, BSF chief K K Sharma said that the use of non-lethal weapons by the Indian border guards has significantly reduced casualties on frontiers with Bangladesh.
Later interacting with media at the BGB’s Pilkhana Headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday, the BSF chief informed that there was no report of killing of any Bangladeshi nationals in BSF gunshots along the borders since January this year.
Sharma, however, quipped that the policy of using non-lethal weapons ‘often made the BSF vulnerable to miscreant attacks’.
A joint press release issued later in the day stated that both sides ‘agreed to take effective steps to prevent human trafficking and illegal crossing and share information regarding organised criminal activities and increased surveillance in areas vulnerable to crimes on the border’.