New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) Talks beween the Indian Border Security Force (BSF)and Pakistan Rangers began here Monday where issues like cross-border firing, smuggling of arms, drugs and fake currency as well as infiltration will be discussed.
An 18-member delegation of Pakistan Rangers, led by Director General of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Rizwan Akhtar, was received by BSF Director General U.K. Bansal as they landed in Delhi for the bi-annual meeting with BSF.
“This is the first time that the dialogue between the two border guarding forces is being held in the capital,” said a BSF statement.
“The four-day meet began at the BSF headquarters here today (Monday) after a ceremonial guard of honour was accorded by the Indian border guards to the visiting delegation”.
The bi-annual event has earler been held at Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jalandhar.
The 22-member Indian delegation to the talks includes senior officials from BSF, the Ministry of Home Affairs, PWD officials of the Punjab government, sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and officials from the Survey of India.
“Key issues to be discussed in the talks include unprovoked firing in Jammu and Sialkot sectors, smuggling of arms and drugs, illegal entry of Pakistanis in India, arrests of Indian fishermen by Pakistani forces and military construction close to the border,” the statement said.
“Some of the visiting officials are also accompanied by their wives. They will be taken to Taj Mahal in Agra and Jaipur today (Monday) evening in BSF aircraft,” a senior official told IANS.
A joint record of discussions will be signed on July 5, when the talks are due to conclude.
