Bangladesh plea on border shootings

The border clashes this year left 19 dead

By Waliur Rahman in Dhaka

Bangladesh has asked India to stop shooting Bangladeshi civilians who illegally cross the 4,000-kilometre border between them.

It says that instead, Indian border guards should arrest intruders and hand them over to the Bangladeshi authorities.

The request was made at a high-level meeting of border guards from the two countries.

It follows the alleged killing of at least four Bangladeshis by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in a week.

People trafficking

A Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) spokesman told the BBC after the meeting that both sides had also agreed to strengthen co-operation to stop the trafficking of women and children across the border.

The two sides pledged to improve border co-operation

The spokesman did not, however, provide any details of the measures agreed on.

The Deputy Director General of BDR, General Abdus Salam Chowdhury, and a BSF Inspector General, SB Kakati, led their respective sides in the meeting held in Rajshahi in north-western Bangladesh.

It was originally scheduled for June this year, but it was delayed because of border clashes in April that left 19 soldiers dead.

Officials said the shooting of Bangladeshi civilians, problems faced by villagers living along the border, and arms and drugs smuggling also came up for discussion.

The spokesman said the Indian side gave assurances that they would try to ensure that no civilians were killed when they intruded in Indian territory.

The trafficking of women and children remains a serious problem for Bangladesh.

About 20,000 women and children are smuggled to India each year from Bangladesh, according to human rights groups.