India to host first border guard-level talks with Nepal

India will host the first-ever border level talks with Nepal as a delegation of the Armed Police Force (APF) of the neighbouring country arrives here on a five-day visit later this week.

An eight-member delegation of the Nepalese APF, the border guarding force of that country, led by their chief and Inspector General Kosh Raj Onta, will reach the national capital on December 2 and hold talks with Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the border with Nepal, on a host of issues related to border.

The border coordination meet, on similar lines of what India has with Bangladesh, is being held to thrash out a number of issues related to smuggling of narcotics and arms, illegal crossings, strengthing of border outposts and a host of other security-related subjects on this open border.

The SSB delegation will be led by its Director General Pranay Sahay who is holding the top post of the force in an additional capacity.

The SSB guards the 1,751km Indo-Nepal border and is also the lead intelligence gathering agency for this frontier. PTI NES PAL 11301802 NNNN