India to probe border killings: Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen

India has assured Bangladesh that it will carry out an investigation into why border killings were taking place despite the Indian government's decision to bring those down to zero, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said.

He made the comment at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban this afternoon.

Citing a recent meeting with his Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla in Dhaka, Momen told the committee that Shringla assured him that he would discuss the border killing issue with the high-ups of the Indian government.

"The foreign secretary told the meeting that Shringla [during his meeting with Momen] said that despite the Indian government's policy to bring down border killings to zero, it was still taking place," Muhammad Faruk Khan, chief of the parliamentary watchdog, told The Daily Star over telephone after the meeting.

The Bangladesh foreign secretary also informed the Jatiya Sangsad body that Shringla has assured of holding talks about the issue during a meeting between the director generals of Border Guard Bangladesh and the Indian Border Security Force.

Momen also informed the lawmakers that the Teesta water-sharing issue was not discussed during Shringla's visit.

Shringla arrived in Dhaka on August 18 on a sudden visit and conveyed a message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that Delhi has special relations with Dhaka and it will continue to be its development partner.

This was the first visit by a high-level Indian official to Dhaka since the Covid-19 pandemic began in mid-March.

The parliamentary watchdog asked the foreign ministry to organise workshops, seminars and increase communications with different countries on a political level to stop propaganda about Bangladesh.

The committee also recommended taking necessary measures to export pharmaceutical items to different countries in the Middle East and take measures to import yarn instead of cotton.