Following a four-day conference in New Delhi, Bangladesh and India announced plans to strengthen border security cooperation through enhanced intelligence sharing and joint patrol operations, according to a joint statement issued Friday. The agreement addresses mounting tensions over disputed migration activities along their shared frontier.
Bangladeshi officials have alleged that Indian authorities are attempting to push migrants across the border without proper procedures, creating complications in diplomatic relations following Sheikh Hasina’s removal from power in 2024 and India’s broader campaign to identify and remove undocumented migrants.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) characterized their discussions as “cordial, positive and forward-looking” in the statement issued after their New Delhi meetings.
The routine discussions also addressed “illegal, inadvertent and forcible crossing at border areas,” which has become an increasingly disputed matter in recent months.
The two nations maintain a frontier stretching more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles), ranking among the world’s most extensive borders. India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which controls important border states such as Tripura, West Bengal and Assam, has prioritized addressing alleged undocumented migration and has worked to relocate Bengali-speaking Muslims labeled “illegal infiltrators” to Bangladesh since last year.
Bangladeshi officials report sending more than a dozen correspondence to New Delhi requesting cessation of these practices.
The BGB has documented preventing multiple alleged attempts in recent weeks and has increased personnel deployments, intelligence activities and drone monitoring in frontier regions.
This week, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam declared that any forced relocations without proper procedures were “absolutely unacceptable,” cautioning they could damage efforts to strengthen bilateral relationships.
Bangladesh reported increasing patrol activities and initiating public awareness programs along sections of the border to address the alleged forced crossings, while India announced in May it had requested Dhaka to confirm the citizenship of over 2,860 suspected Bangladeshi individuals residing in India without proper documentation.
The joint declaration stated both nations also examined human trafficking, border fatalities, smuggling activities, infrastructure development and execution of the Coordinated Border Management Plan.
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, tranquility and stability along the India-Bangladesh border,” the statement declared, noting they would enhance coordinated patrol operations, increase surveillance, improve immediate information exchange and strengthen collaborative efforts against cross-border criminal organizations.
The senior border officials plan to reconvene in Dhaka in November, according to the statement.
