18th Indo-Bangladesh Home Secretary level talks begin
The two-day 18th Indo-Bangladesh Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh have started. The Indian delegation was present under the leadership of Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi while that of Bangladesh is led by Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh Dr. Md. Mozammel Haque Khan. Last such meeting was held at Dhaka in Bangladesh in the month of November.
The primary point of discussion will be the growing menace of terrorism and the ways to tackle it. Other issues which were discussed are security, prevention of illegal activities along the borders, other border management issues, various institutional arrangements etc. It is expected that Bangladesh may ask the Indian side for cooperation to grab the most wanted criminals in particular the ones which have been involved in war crimes and assassination of the founder of Bangladesh-Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. The issue of smuggling of arms, narcotics and human trafficking along the border will also be taken up. Both the nations share 4,096kms international border which is 5th longest in the world. The border on the Indian side is spread across Assam 262 kms, Tripura 856 kms, Mizoram 180 kms, Meghalaya 443 kms and Bengal 2217kms.
