Click to play videoGuwahati: Monday is a big day for the Border Security Force (BSF) in Assam, as talks are scheduled to be held in Shillong between the force and the Bangladesh Rifles or BDR.
The relations between the two have been strained for quite sometime and recently it took an ugly turn. In early August, there was a clash between BSF and BDR over a group of Bangladeshi farmers who had illegally entered Indian territory in the Cachar district of Assam.
But such things are not new as the BSF and BDR have a history of violence against each other:
- In 2001, 16 BSF personnel were captured and killed by the BDR at Boraibari on the India-Bangladesh border.
- In 2003 BSF and BDR faced a standoff over the identity of 213 illegal migrants at West Bengal's Cooch Behar border.
- In 2005, BDR captured and killed BSF's Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar near Agartala.
- Earlier this year, there was a BSF-BDR clash in Karimganj sector, which killed four people.
While the need for renewed confidence between the BSF and BDR may dominate the talks, other important issues will also figure in the agenda. One of issues will be the intense security threats, including presence of several northeastern militant groups in Bangladesh.
"They have their camps in Bangladesh. Our relationship with Bangladesh is apparently friendly; at least both sides claim so. Why don't the Government of India pursue the issue and demolish all militant camps in Bangladesh?" Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said.
Apart from such security concerns, India may also demand the deportation of top ULFA commander Anup Chetia, who is supposedly jailed in Bangladesh.
With the changing security scenario in the Indian sub continent and the possibility of Bangladesh becoming a new terror hub, the situation demands that both BDR and BSF have the best of relations.
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