The BSF today said cattle smuggling instances along the Indo-Bangla border have declined "significantly" due to special clampdown measures undertaken and it has now joined hands with neighbour's forces to further bring down these illegal activities.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the frontier force of the neighbouring country, said they see the development as a "good opportunity" for them to become self-reliant in rearing their own livestock.
A visiting delegation of the BGB today wrapped up their four-day bi-annual Director General-level talks with their counterparts Border Security Force here after thrashing out issues posing challenges at the over 4,096-km porous border the two countries share.
During a media interaction by the two force chiefs here, BSF Director General D K Pathak said he was making a "bold claim" to state that cattle smuggling at this frontier has declined significantly, from 20 lakh cattle heads last year to only about 4 lakh till June this year.
When asked about the impact of this development, BGB DG Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed welcomed the Indian initiative.
"It is a good opportunity for us because Bangladesh once upon a time used to import a lot of rice and other things but now we have become self-sufficient and we even export it now.
"I think our farmers should take this opportunity to have their own cattle farming so that we don't need to depend on others and we are encouraging our people," he said.
The BSF has undertaken some special and innovative measures to curb cattle smuggling especially after Home Minister Rajnath Singh urged the force, during its Raising Day in 2014 and while on a visit to a forward location on the border this year, to effectively check this menace.
BSF chief Pathak said both the forces have devised mechanisms to check cattle smuggling during night and have firmed up coordinated action in this regard at the close of the talks.
He said both the forces have identified "vulnerable" areas for cattle smuggling along the border and have resolved to conduct joint patrols.
Replying to another question on illegal migration from Bangladesh to India, Maj Gen Ahmed said while he acknowledges that there could be some "inadvertent" cases of crossing over, he would "beg to differ" in believing that any large scale migration was taking place along this frontier on India's eastern flank.
