Can't intimidate us with barbed wire, says Bangladesh, puts border force on alert

DHAKA: Bangladesh cannot be intimidated with "barbed wire", PM Tarique Rahman's foreign affairs adviser Humaiun Kobir said Monday as the new BJP govt in West Bengal in its first cabinet meeting decided to transfer land to Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing the border with Bangladesh.

Targetting Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari, he said election rhetoric and actual governance are two different issues and "Bangladesh wants to see whether the Adhikari govt is following election rhetoric in governance".

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"People of Bangladesh are not afraid of barbed wire... Govt of Bangladesh is also not afraid; where we need to talk, we will talk," he said to reporters, days after foreign minister Khalilur Rahman warned Dhaka would take action if "push-back" incidents - forcibly evicting people - occur following change of govt in Bengal.




Humaiun said the Indian govt should adopt a more "humane approach" in resolving border security issues if it wants to strengthen people-to-people relations, adding that their (Bangladesh govt's) relationship is primarily with the (Indian) central govt. "We do not want to become involved in their internal politics," he said.

On alleged "push-back" and killings along the border, Humaiun said Bangladesh would not remain silent if people continued to be killed along the border. "Bangladesh has its own plans and responses. I hope matters will not proceed in that direction," he said.

Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed said Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has been placed on high alert following the assembly polls in Bengal, assuring that the force remains fully prepared to prevent border infiltration.