Bangladesh summons Indian High Commissioner, flags border tensions

The Bangladeshi foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma to discuss concerns about border tensions, The Hindu reported.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Mohammed Jashim Uddin said that his country had “deep concern” about recent activities of India’s Border Security Force along the border between the two countries. Hours earlier, Bangladesh accused India of trying to construct fences along the border at five places in violation of a bilateral agreement, PTI reported.

“Such activities, particularly the unauthorised attempt to construct barbed wire fencing and the related operational actions by BSF, have caused tensions and disturbances along the border,” the Bangladeshi foreign secretary said.

The official said he hoped that the matter could be discussed at length during upcoming director general-level talks between the Border Security Force and the Border Guard Bangladesh.

Referring to the recent killing of a Bangladeshi citizen allegedly due to firing by Indian forces, Jashim Uddin said that Dhaka strongly resented such acts and urged New Delhi to prevent them from recurring, according to The Hindu.

The Bangladeshi foreign secretary urged the Indian government to advise all concerned authorities in the country not to engage in any provocative actions that could escalate tensions.

India has not yet issued a statement about High Commissioner Pranay Verma being summoned in Dhaka. The Indian official reportedly entered the…

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