Feb 05, 2025 06:18 AM IST
Around 865km of the India-Bangladesh border remains unfenced, with disputes over fencing efforts escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
Around 865km of the 4096km-long India-Bangladesh border is yet to be fenced, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
“A length of 864.482 km of the India-Bangladesh border is yet to be fenced, which includes a length of 174.514 km of non-feasible gap,” Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said in a written reply.
Rai said the challenges faced in completing the feasible stretches of fencing projects relate to land acquisition, objections by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), limited working season and land slide/marshy land.
“It has been conveyed to the Government of Bangladesh that with regard to security measures at the border, including for fencing, India observes all protocols and agreements between the two governments and between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB),” he said in his reply. “The Government of India’s expectation that all earlier understandings will be implemented by Bangladesh and there will be a cooperative approach to combating cross-border crimes has also been conveyed to the Government of Bangladesh.”
BSF officers familiar with the development said that the force has adopted smart fencing in the form of sensors, CCTV cameras, floodlights along with posting of guards to keep an eye on infiltration and smuggling along border points where fencing is not possible due to the terrain.
Diplomatic relations and the atmosphere at the border has steadily soured since August 5, when former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India. On January 12, Bangladesh expressed “deep concern” to India’s envoy over what the former termed “unauthorised” fencing attempts by the (BSF). The following day, India summoned the deputy high commissioner in Delhi to stress upon the need to uphold understanding on border management the two countries came to in the past.
Rai’s reply came weeks after the neighbouring border force opposed previously agreed fencing construction work at multiple locations along the international boundary. All such disputes will be taken up during the director general-level meeting of BSF and BGB in New Delhi later this month.