In response to queries raised by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sajda Ahmed about the fencing of the India-Bangladesh border, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that nearly 864.482 kilometres of the border had yet to be fenced, including a 174.514 km non-feasible gap.
“A length of 864.482 km of the India-Bangladesh border is yet to be fenced, which includes a length of 174.514 km of non-feasible gap,” MoS Rai told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Of the 4,096.7 km of the India-Bangladesh border, 3,232.218 km has been covered with fencing, he added.
“The challenges faced in completing the feasible stretches of fencing projects relate to land acquisition, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) objections to limited working season and landslide and marshy land,” the minister’s reply read.
Citing security reasons, the MoS said that fencing construction was important for securing the border. It helps ensure a crime-free border by addressing challenges of cross-border criminal activities, including smuggling, movement of criminals and trafficking.
The MoS stated that the Bangladesh government conveyed that India observes all protocols and agreements between the two governments and between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh. “The Government of India’s expectation that all earlier understandings will be implemented by Bangladesh and there will be a cooperative approach to combating cross-border crimes has also been conveyed to the Government of Bangladesh,” Rai said in his written reply.
In January, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry raised “deep concern” over the recent fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border. It summoned the Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, Pranay Verma, to express its objections. He stressed that such activities, particularly the “unauthorized attempt” to construct barbed wire fencing and the related operational actions by BSF, “have caused tensions and disturbances along the border.”
