RAWALPINDI – A 19-member Pakistan Rangers delegation, including representatives from Ministry of Interior and Anti-Narcotics Force, left for New Dehli Wednesday for 44th bi-annual meeting with Indian Border Security Force (BSF), to be held from November 8 to 10.
The delegation is headed by Director General Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Major-General Muhammad Saeed, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, while the Indian side will be headed by Border Security Force chief K.K. Sharma.
A biannual Rangers-BSF meeting is held alternatively in Pakistan and India.
The DG-level talks between the two sides are a bi-annual affair, but several times the meetings have not taken place due to a strain in relations between the two South Asian countries.
The Pakistani delegation, also comprising officials from their interior (home) ministry and anti-narcotics force, is expected to return on 10 November.
The last time the two sides met was in July last year when the BSF delegation led by D.G. Sharma travelled to Lahore for the bi-annual talks.
Issues of smuggling of drugs, especially along the IB in Punjab, arms and detection of underground tunnels will also be discussed between the two sides.
The Pakistani delegation may also call on Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the visit. The last time the Rangers came to India for the DG-level talks was in September 2015, a time when ceasefire violations by Pakistan were on a high.
Pakistan’s 3,323km-long border with India runs through four states – Jammu and Kashmir (1,225km which includes 740km of Line of Control), Rajasthan (1,037km), Punjab (553km), and Gujarat (508km).
