A four-day high-level border conference between Bangladesh and India ended in Delhi without resolving the increasingly contentious issue of alleged “push-ins” across the frontier, exposing deep divisions between the two sides and underscoring the growing strain in bilateral border management.
The Director General-level talks between the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) concluded without any breakthrough on the issue that has dominated relations between the two border forces in recent months.
In a departure from long-standing practice, the two sides did not hold a joint press briefing after the meeting.
The joint statement was released only the following morning and conspicuously omitted any mention of the push-in controversy, highlighting the extent of disagreement.
Officials familiar with the discussions said the talks stalled over fundamentally opposing positions on how alleged undocumented migrants should be handled.
The BSF maintained that many of the individuals found near the border had identified themselves as Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India.
Indian officials argued that enforcement drives, particularly in West Bengal, had led many such people to seek return to Bangladesh, questioning why Dhaka was unwilling to accept them.
The Indian side also contended that Bangladesh’s slow response to nationality verification requests had created practical difficulties, forcing authorities to resort to pushbacks in some cases.
Bangladesh, however, firmly rejected that argument.
The BGB insisted that a mutually agreed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) already exists for the repatriation of undocumented persons and that any attempt to force individuals across the border without prior verification violates bilateral understandings and international norms.
Bangladeshi officials argued that India often fails to provide documentary proof, biometric data or citizenship verification before attempting to send people across the border, making it impossible for Bangladesh to determine whether those individuals are actually Bangladeshi citizens.
The BGB also cited previous cases in which Indian nationals were allegedly pushed into Bangladesh, arguing that such incidents demonstrated the risks of bypassing established procedures.
Under the existing mechanism, individuals claiming Bangladeshi citizenship are supposed to undergo verification through diplomatic and border channels before being formally handed over through designated crossing points.
The failure to bridge these differences left the talks deadlocked.
Observers say the impasse reflects a broader political problem rather than a purely border-management dispute.
Delhi-based political analyst Sukalyan Goswami said expectations of a breakthrough at the border force level were unrealistic because both agencies ultimately implement policies determined by their respective governments.
“The border forces are executing political decisions. Unless there is a political understanding between Dhaka and New Delhi on this issue, the stalemate is likely to continue,” he told Bangla Tribune.
The outcome means one of the most sensitive issues currently affecting Bangladesh-India relations remains unresolved, with both sides standing firmly by their positions and neither willing to concede ground.