India handovers fresh list of insurgent camps to Bangladesh

“We have handed over a list of 46 Indian insurgents’ camps to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). We have got a very positive response from them,” BSF Spokesman Ravi Gandhi said after the four-day Inspector General-level Border Coordination Conference between the Indian and Bangladesh frontier guards here.

BSF Inspector General (Headquarters) S.K. Mishra led the Indian side, while the Bangladesh side was headed by the BGB Deputy Director General Abu Sayeed Khan.
He said that list of the insurgent’s camps contained specific latitude and longitude locations of the camps at several areas in Bangladesh’s Mynmensingh, Sylhet, Chittagong Hill Tract, besides other regions.

The camps included those of the ULFA, NSCN (IM), NDFB, ATTF, PLA, GNLA, HNLC and other rebel groups active in the India’s northeastern states with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.

“In the recent times, Bangladesh has acted against the Indian insurgents. This time too, we are hopeful that they would act against forces which are against India,” Gandhi told IANS.

Four northeastern states -- Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam -- share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh. The dense forests, mountainous terrain, unfenced and other hitches make the borders porous and vulnerable.

Stating that the meeting between the frontier guards was a cordial one, Gandhi said both sides emphasized that BSF and BGB face common trans-border crimes -- criss-crossing of insurgents, terrorists, smuggling of narcotics and arms.

“We (BSF and BGB) agreed that both the forces should strengthen the combined efforts to put to and end to all these menaces with a firm hand,” Gandhi said.  During the meeting, the BSF officers pressed for early implementation of a coordinated plan to bring about a paradigm shift in border management for both the forces and also to make the life of the border population peaceful and secure, he said.

Moreover, Gandhi said both the border forces agreed to strengthen joint efforts to prevent trans-border crimes and maintain closer cooperation and better understanding between the two forces with constructive engagement at all levels, besides agreeing to strengthen confidence building measures and institutional linkages between the two forces.

Meanwhile, India has speed up efforts to complete the fencing along the frontier with Bangladesh by 2013. Five hundred new border outposts would also be set up. To maintain effective vigil, the distance between two border outposts is likely to be reduced from 4.5 km to 2.8 km.