Agartala, June 24 (IANS) BSF’s Additional Director General (ADG), Eastern Command, Kolkata, on Tuesday visited several Border Outposts (BOPs) and Integrated Check Post (ICP) Agartala-Akhaura and interacted with field commanders and jawans and reviewed operational preparedness, an official said.

A BSF spokesman said that senior IPS officer Aggarwal, soon after his arrival in Agartala on a four-day visit to Tripura, was received at the airport by Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Inspector General (IG), BSF Tripura frontier. Upon his arrival at BSF frontier headquarters, the ADG was accorded a Guard of Honour. Later, he was briefed by the frontier IG Sharma on the operational issues and key strategic matters.

“The ADG visited BOP Bhagalpur, BOP Lankamura and ICP Agartala-Akhaura (along the India-Bangladesh border) to take stock of the operational preparedness and interact with field commanders and jawans,” the spokesman said.

Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues. Except for some patches, most of the frontier had been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, cross-border illegal movements by infiltrators and inimical elements.

Senior BSF officer’s visit to Tripura came four days after a top Army officer’s visit to the bordering state. General Officer Commanding (GOC), Red Shield Division of the Indian Army, Major General S.S. Kartikeya, visited the Army training facility in Tripura and reviewed the combat training of the troops last week.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Amit Shukla had said that during his visit, the GOC witnessed a series of rigorous training modules being undertaken by the troops, including jungle warfare, firing drills, drone operations, obstacle navigation and special operations. The training facility has been instrumental in enhancing terrain-specific warfare skills and technological integration for soldiers operating in the northeastern region, the spokesman said.

He said that interacting with the soldiers post the demonstration, the General Officer appreciated the dedication, adaptability to emerging technologies and exceptional state of physical and mental toughness of the personnel.

Major General Kartikeya applauded the professionalism and discipline displayed by the troops and urged all ranks to continue striving for excellence. The visit underscores the Army’s continued focus on capacity building, operational readiness and motivation of troops serving in challenging operational environments.

–IANS

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