India-Bangladeshi border conflict

India- Bangladeshi border conflict

The 2001 Indian- Bangladeshi border conflict occurred because of the poorly marked international border between the two countries. The Partition of Bengal in 1947, left a poorly demarcated international border between India and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). Ownership of several villages on both sides of the de facto border were disputed and claimed by both countries. One of the disputed areas was a small sliver of land near the village of Pyrdiwah. The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had occupied it since the 1971 liberation of Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh claimed that the village was within its territory and in 2001 the Bangladeshi Army attacked the settlements under the Border Security force. Consequently, fighting between the Indian Border Security Force and the 19th division of the Bangladeshi army lasted three days, from April 16- 19. Nevertheless Indian forces managed to retake the settlements.

After the incident, there was increasing tension about whether the conflict would escalate. On April 22, 2001, the then Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke to then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and agreed to order a high-level investigation into the incident. India and Bangladesh also agreed to improve diplomatic channels and exercise restraint in the future. By July 2001, the two sides had established joint working groups to establish the un-demarcated sections of the border and both countries are still in the process of constructing the Indo-Bangladeshi barrier.