Sudha Ramachandran
India’s fencing of its border with Bangladesh has emerged as the latest sore spot between the two neighbors.
On January 12, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka to convey to him Bangladesh’s “deep concern” over the “unauthorized attempts to construct barbed wire fencing and the related operational actions” by India’s Border Security Force (BSF), which “have caused tensions and disturbances along the border.”
The following day, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed Bangladesh’s interim high commissioner in New Delhi that India had “observed all protocols and agreements between the two governments” and between the BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in erecting the fencing.
The latest bilateral border spat erupted on January 8, when India resumed fencing work along its border with Bangladesh. According to reports, BGB personnel objected to BSF fence construction activity at several places. There were violent clashes too between Indian and Bangladeshi civilians living near the border. Importantly, Bangladesh accused the BSF of shooting dead a Bangladeshi citizen and injuring several others.
India and Bangladesh share a 4,096.7 kilometer-long border. India began fencing it in 1986 amid rising concerns over Bangladeshi migration into India’s Northeast, which fueled a powerful anti-foreigner movement and an armed insurgency.
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