In reply to the question from the TMC leader Sajda Ahmed regarding the India-Bangladesh fencing issue, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai mentioned that around 864.48 Km of the borer area has been unfenced. This includes 174.51 Kilometers, which are classified as Non-feasible gaps.
“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 reasons of security, the MoS said that construction of fencing was important for securing the border as 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. Earlier in January, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry raised “deep concern” over the recent fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border and 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.”
