Bangladesh summons Indian High Commissioner over border tensions

Bangladesh summons Indian High Commissioner over border tensions, expressing deep concern over recent activities along the border

The interim government of Bangladesh on Sunday (January 12, 2025) expressed “deep concern” about the prevailing situation along the India-Bangladesh borders.

Dhaka’s message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Md. Jashim Uddin to the Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma during a meeting which was held soon after the Adviser on Home Affairs, Jehangir Alam Chowdhury, informed the media that India has been erecting fences in five locations on the Indo-Bangladesh borders and alleged that Bangladesh authorities were not consulted before starting the construction work. He announced that the Indian envoy was being “summoned” to discuss the situation. 

“Foreign Secretary Ambassador Md. Jashim Uddin today expressed the deep concern of the Government of Bangladesh to High Commissioner of India Pranay Verma at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the recent activities of the Border Security Force (BSF) of India along the Bangladesh-India Border,” stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bangladesh in a press statement which referred to the attempts to construct barbed-wire fencing as “unauthorised”.

“He emphasised that the construction of barbed wire fences without proper authorisation undermines the spirit of cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries. He hoped the upcoming BGB [Border Guard Bangladesh]-BSF DG-level talks would be able to discuss the matter at length,” the press note further stated. Earlier Mr. Chowdhury had described India-Bangladesh border agreements concluded during 2010- 2023 as “unequal” and blamed these agreements for being responsible for the problems that Bangladesh is facing.

India and Bangladesh concluded the landmark Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) in 2015 but the killing of Bangladesh citizens by the BSF has been a major issue for Dhaka. Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin raised the recent killing of a Bangladeshi citizen in Sunamganj by the BSF. “He strongly resented these acts of killing and called for urgent action by the Indian authorities to stop the recurrence of such incidents and conduct enquiries into all these border killings and take actions against those responsible,” the MoFA said in its statement.

The India-Bangladesh border has been under focus since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024, as subsequently, on several locations of the border, members of the erstwhile ruling party Awami League’s members and Bangladeshi citizens were spotted trying to enter Indian territories. In late August 2024, the dead body of Awami League leader Ishfaq Ali Khan Panna was found inside Meghalaya close to the Indo-Bangladesh border amid suspicion that he was chased and killed by his political rivals. 

Mr. Verma also met the media after the meeting which came as a heated exchange continued between the two sides. “We have an understanding with regard to fencing the border for security. BSF and BGB have been in communication in this regard,” High Commissioner Verma told the media.

Published - January 12, 2025 06:46 pm IST