Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has dismissed as “baseless and misleading” attempts by certain individuals and a few media outlets to spread confusion about the recently concluded 57th BGB-BSF Director General-level conference.
In a press release issued on Monday, the BGB said speculative information and analyses being circulated are based on incomplete understanding of established diplomatic processes.
The Bangladesh delegation, led by the BGB Director General, included senior BGB officials as well as representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Shipping, Land Survey Department, and the Joint River Commission.
Bangladesh presented 31 agendas, while India presented 21 at the conference. The official document recording decisions is the Joint Record of Discussions (JRD), signed by the Director Generals of both forces.
The BGB said the delegation raised the issues of border killings and push-ins with the utmost importance. Bangladesh’s firm stance on taking effective measures to stop the killing of innocent Bangladeshi citizens and bringing border killings down to zero has been properly reflected in the JRD.
All concerns – including push-ins, border killings, illegal infrastructure within 150 yards of the border, drug trafficking, border security, and armed group activities in the hill tracts – were formally documented in the JRD without any compromise or flexibility, the BGB stated.
The BGB rejected attempts to portray the Director General’s meeting with India’s Home Minister as a “secret meeting”, calling such claims completely baseless.
It noted that in every previously held border conference, a courtesy meeting between the force chief and the host country’s home minister or adviser is an established practice. During the 56th border conference in Dhaka, the BSF Director General held a similar meeting with Bangladesh’s Home Adviser.
This year’s meeting with Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah was pre-determined and approved prior to the visit, the BGB said, adding that the Director General firmly presented Bangladesh’s position on border killings and push-ins.
The BGB noted that since 5 August 2024, under the director general’s leadership, the force has restored public confidence by taking firm stances on border killings, push-ins, drug and human trafficking, and armed groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
“Spreading misleading and false information and attempting to demean the force’s top leadership through baseless personal attacks is nothing short of an effort to break the morale of the force,” the press release said.
The BGB reaffirmed its commitment to professionalism, transparency, and state responsibility in all its activities.
