India, Bangladesh to hold DG-level border talks in Dhaka from 25 Aug

India and Bangladesh will hold their bi-annual border talks in Dhaka beginning 25 August, officials said. This will be the first time that the Indian delegation will travel to Dhaka post the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year.

The two sides will discuss measures to curb cross-frontier crimes with the Border Security Force (BSF) expected to raise issues related to attacks on Indians and its personnel by miscreants from the neighbouring country.

The two countries share a 4,096-km international border. The BSF is designated as the lead security and intelligence-gathering agency for this front.

These talks are held between the border guarding forces of the two countries — the BSF and its counterpart the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) — twice a year. A BGB delegation visited India for the talks from 17-20 February.

"The 56th director-general level border co-ordination conference between the BSF and BGB will be organised by the BGB in Dhaka between 25 and 28 August," a BSF spokesman said.

The Indian delegation will be led by BSF director-general Daljit Singh Chawdhary, while the Bangladesh side will be headed by BGB DG Major-General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui.

"The conference is being organised to discuss border-related issues and for better coordination between the border guarding forces," the spokesman said.

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Discussions will be held on prevention against attack/assault on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh-based miscreants/nationals, how to prevent trans-border crimes, construction of single row fence, action against Indian insurgent groups in Bangladesh, issues related to border infrastructure, joint efforts for the effective implementation of the coordinated border management plan, confidence-building measures and other issues, he said.

PTI had first reported about the schedule of these talks on 11 August. The talks were originally scheduled for July but due to some administrative issues, they are being held in August, a source in the security establishment had said.

The source said the talks are not expected to draw any concrete policy steps as Bangladesh currently has an interim government.

Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to the interim government in Bangladesh, recently announced that general elections would be held in the country in February 2026. The announcement coincided with the first anniversary of the ouster of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime on 5 August 2024.

The DG-level border talks were held annually between 1975 and 1992, but they were made bi-annual in 1993, with either side alternatively travelling to New Delhi and Dhaka.

The India-Bangladesh border spans five states — West Bengal (2,217 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).

A total of 864.48 km of the India-Bangladesh border remains unfenced, including 174.51 km of 'non-feasible' gap, according to official data.