India, Bangladesh sign comprehensive border management deal

BANGLA-LD INDIA
 India, Bangladesh sign comprehensive border management deal
       From Anisur Rahman
       Dhaka, Jul 30 (PTI) India and Bangladesh Saturday inked a
 key agreement aimed at enhancing quality of border management
 and ensuring cross-frontier security through measures like
 joint vigils to deal with human trafficking and smuggling of
 drugs and weapons.
       The comprehensive border management agreement was signed
 in the presence of visiting Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram
 and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sahara Khatun.
       "We have just signed the agreement -- Border Management
 Coordination Plan for a comprehensive and joint management of
 all frontier issues," Khatun told a joint news conference with
 Chidambaram after their nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting,
 which came ahead of the September visit of  IndianPrime
 Minister Manmohan Singh here.
       Chidambaram said the agreement -- signed by Border Guard
 Bangladesh's Director General Maj Gen Anwar Hossain and his
 Indian counterpart from the Border Security Force (BSF) Raman
 Srivastava -- was expected to resolve all outstanding frontier
 issues, including combating cross-border crimes.
       "The agreement will enhance quality of border management
 as well as ensure (cross-border) security," he said.
       India and Bangladesh share 4,096 km border, of which 6.1
 kilometres is still un-demarcated.
       Officials here familiar with the process said the deal
 intended to enforce joint frontier vigils from certain border
 points against cross-border crimes like human trafficking and
 weapons and drug smuggling.
       The two countries had last week concluded a joint
 headcount in 162 enclaves on both sides of their borders. PTI
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