Pakistan Rangers team reach India for Talks
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk

NEW DELHI (India): A Pakistan delegation headed by Major General Muhammed Haroon Aslam reached India on Wednesday to attend bi-annual meeting between the border forces of the two countries being held in Chandigarh.

During the meeting, illegal border crossing, inadvertent crossing and human smuggling will be the core issues to be discussed thoroughly, Maj. Gen. Haroon Aslam told reporters at Attari.

“We are here to discuss the professional matters in the most professional manner but we will not hurl any vague allegations against each other,” media reports quoted him saying.

He termed “mere allegations” reports about smuggling of narcotics from Afghanistan to India through Pakistan.

Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security have been conducting joint patrolling for a long time on the international border, he said.

This has shown good results and helped resolve common problems and build mutual confidence, he added.

An earlier report from Lahore had said that a 15-member delegation of Pakistan Rangers left for India by the Wagah border Wedneday for the bi-annual meeting with Border Security Force (BSF) at Chandigarh, India.

Rangers (Punjab) Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Haroon Aslam and Rangers (Sindh) DG Maj Gen Liaquat Ali headed the delegation comprising commandants, staff officers and representatives from Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and Survey of Pakistan.

BSF Additional Director General Sh G S Gill will lead the India delegation comprising inspectors general, staff officers, members of Survey of India and Narcotics Control Board India.

The meeting, scheduled to be held at Chandigarh from March 26 to 29, is part of the peace process parleys between Pakistan and India and is scheduled after every six months as per agreed programme aimed at coordinating measures being taken by the two border security forces.

Talking to journalists at Wagah border, Maj Gen Haroon Aslam said that they will discuss with the BSF all matters pertaining to effective border management duties, incidents concerning unprovoked firing by BSF troops, trans-border smuggling and illegal border crossing from India to Pakistan.

Matters regarding simultaneous coordinated patrolling, drug trafficking, repatriation of inadvertent crossers as well as Pakistani prisoners detained in Indian jails, will also be discussed.

He said that they will also raise the issue of Pakistan national Khalid Mahmood who had gone to India to watch a cricket match, and whose body was sent by India a month ago.

Speaking on the occasion, BSF DIG Aqeel Muhammad said that India is taking measures to curb tans-border smuggling, besides sending back inadvertent crossers from Pakistan within 24 hours, as was agreed in the previous Rangers-BSF bi-annual meeting.

To a question, he observed that spying is an old practice, and that it is best that we do not discuss this issue.●