BSF and Pakistan Rangers to meet in Lahore in July

NEW DELHI: Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers will hold their biannual director general-level talks on issues related to ceasefire violations, infiltration and digging of illegal tunnels along the international border in July in Lahore. Sources indicated a positive movement on NIA's proposed visit to Pakistan to investigate the Pathankot attack could pave the way for the BSF-Rangers meeting.
While the forces have mutually agreed to hold the talks between July 21 and 24 at the Rangers’ headquarters in Lahore, a final call on travel will only be taken by the governments of the two countries.
The last such meeting between the Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers was held in Delhi in September last year.
India had sought the visit of an NIA team to Pakistan after a joint investigation team (JIT) from Pakistan had visited Pathankot early this year. Pakistan has yet to approve the visit.
Officials said though the international border has been “relatively less volatile” in nearly eight months since the last meeting between the two forces compared to the frequent ceasefire violations in Jammu & Kashmir in the early 2015, infiltration and drugs smuggling continue to be a matter of concern.
They said the biannual meeting between the two border guarding forces has been already delayed due to a number of bilateral issues.
The Indian side will also raise issues related to smuggling of arms, contraband items and detection of illegal tunnels running across the international border.
“The agenda for the proposed talks is in the making,” an officer said.
The last time the two sides had met in Delhi it was decided not to fire heavy artillery like mortar shells and ensure that civilians living along the international border were not harmed.
The two forces had also decided that their officials, right up to the level of directors general, will exchange mobile numbers, email ids and fax numbers for swift communication to resolve disputes on the IB running through Indian states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The DG-level talks between the two sides are a biannual affair but many a time these meetings have not taken place due to strain in relations. The last time BSF travelled to Pakistan for these talks was in December 2013.