News
Monday, June 18, 2012
Rangers to hold talks with BSF on July 1NEW DELHI: Chiefs of Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) will meet in the Indian capital for the first time next month to thrash out a host of issues, including recent incidents of firing along the Indo-Pak border. The five-day director general-level talks, beginning on July 1, are being held for the first time in New Delhi. Earlier, venues for talks between the two forces manning key frontiers on their respective sides had been places like Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh. The Pakistani delegation will be headed by Major General Rizwan Akhtar and the 20-member BSF delegation will be led by its Director General UK Bansal. Both the sides will discuss issues related to the border areas, which include trans-border crime, smuggling of fake currency and narcotics with a special focus on regular ceasefire violation instances along the international border. “This is the first time the Pakistan Rangers delegation is coming to Delhi. They will be hosted for talks at the force headquarters here,” a senior BSF official said. Both the forces have a tradition of holding bi-annual talks, with each side visiting the other country once a year. Regular flag meetings are held by local commanders on a need and emergency basis. Establishing a hotline between the force commanders will also be discussed at the meet. inp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk