Shillong, December 11 (PTI): To celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, the BSF and its Bangladesh counterpart BGB will organise a joint cultural programme in Meghalaya on December 13, an official said on Saturday.
"Mukti Yoddhas" (liberation warriors), historians and eminent speakers of both countries will be invited to the cultural programme to be held at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Dawki, a town bordering Bangladesh.
The 1971 war led to the birth of Bangladesh.
“The BSF played a very important role in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh right from the beginning and fought shoulder to shoulder with the Indian Army," Meghalaya BSF Frontier Inspector General Inderjeet Singh Rana said.
Twenty-three BSF units were deployed under the Army's operational control and they displayed their mettle in both defensive and offensive actions against enemy positions independently, as well as in conjunction with the Army, he said.
The BSF IG said India provided extensive aid, training and shelter to the "Mukti Yoddhas" who were fighting the Pakistani Army during the liberation war.
According to the BSF, the relations between the two countries were further cemented with the signing of the India–Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace on March 19, 1972.
The pact was also known as Indira–Mujib Treaty, named after its signatories - prime ministers of India and Bangladesh, Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, respectively.
India and Bangladesh share a 4096 kilometres long international border, which is manned by the BSF on the India side and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the neighbouring country.
