NEW DELHI: The three-day 44th meeting between Pakistan Rangers and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) concluded in New Delhi on Friday, with consensus on measures to effectively check smuggling and border crossings. “Measures were discussed to effectively check smuggling and border crossings from both sides,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement. The meeting is held alternately in Pakistan and India on yearly basis.
According to the ISPR, the meeting was held in highly congenial and conducive atmosphere. There has been a sincere endeavor from both the forces to encourage the local commanders at junior level to mutually resolve minor issues, it said. The meeting discussed that ceasefire violations and unprovoked firing results in loss of innocent lives. “At many occasions, women and children also become the victims. To overcome this ordeal, both border guarding forces need to revive the spirit of 2003 ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.
“To address the miseries of inadvertent border crossers and fishermen detained in Indian jails due to lengthy and complicated repatriation process, both sides explored fresh ideas to expedite the legal formalities in order to reunite the affected families with their loved ones,” it said. Issues of defence construction closer to Working Boundary and International Border were also deliberated upon to find out amicable and prompt solutions for addressing the day to day mutual concerns. The outcome of the meeting will be beneficial to both the countries in general and border guarding forces in particular, the statement concluded.
Published in Daily Times, November 11th 2017.
