Bangladesh–india Border: everything we know so far

India wants to the border with Bangladesh badly Bangladesh–india Border has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in Ghana.

Key facts

• India wants to the border with Bangladesh badly — even if it takes venomous snakes or crocodiles.
• New Delhi, India – Indian officials have floated a controversial plan to introduce apex predators such as crocodiles and venomous snakes into riverine stretches along the Bangladesh border, to act as natural deterrents against undocumented migration and smuggling in places where erecting fencing is difficult.
• India’s 4,096km-long (2,545-mile) border with Bangladesh runs through some challenging terrain – and New Delhi has found some stretches impossible to fence.
• In an internal communication dated March 26, India’s Border Security Force (BSF), which patrols international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, ordered personnel at its headquarters on the eastern and northeastern fronts to explore “the feasibility of deploying reptiles in vulnerable riverine gaps”.
• New Delhi has fenced nearly 3,000km of the border.

What we know

Going deeper, New Delhi, India – Indian officials have floated a controversial plan to introduce apex predators such as crocodiles and venomous snakes into riverine stretches along the Bangladesh border, to act as natural deterrents against undocumented migration and smuggling in places where erecting fencing is difficult.

On the substance, India’s 4,096km-long (2,545-mile) border with Bangladesh runs through some challenging terrain

Beyond the headlines, In an internal communication dated March 26, India’s Border Security Force (BSF), which patrols international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, ordered personnel at its headquarters on the eastern and northeastern fronts to explore “the feasibility of deploying reptiles in vulnerable riverine gaps”.

More precisely, New Delhi has fenced nearly 3,000km of the border.

It is worth noting that the partition of British India in 1947 sliced through the region of Bengal, with people on either side of the border still sharing cultural and ethnic roots.

By the numbers

At this stage, Security along the 4000-kilometre border, which runs through plains, hills, forests and rivers, has been a contentious topic for decades.

On a related note, while a new census was begun this month, the last one was undertaken in 2011.

Going deeper, In the state of Assam, for example, Choudhury said, India set up foreign tribunal courts – quasi-judicial bodies established to determine whether a person suspected of being an illegal migrant is a “foreigner” or an Indian citizen under the Foreigners Act of 1946.

On the substance, the South Florida Detention Facility opened to controversy in July 2025 and has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by state officials, who support Trump.

What they're saying

“This would be hilarious if it weren’t sinister and dangerous,” said Angshuman Choudhury, a researcher with a focus on northeastern and eastern Indian border states. “It’s absurd, right?”

“It is the Achilles’ heel in the India-Bangladesh border: the river,” he told Al Jazeera. “This core impulse comes from the fact that the BSF has always found that the river on the border is practically impossible to fence.”

“These forced expulsions are new border control mechanisms, which are very sinister,” Choudhury said.

The wider context

On a related note, INDIA’S BORDER SECURITY FORCE (BSF) is exploring an idea: releasing crocodiles and venomous snakes along riverine stretches of the country’s border with Banglad.

Going deeper, the government’s latest move to fence the border with Bangladesh has alarmed human rights activists and wildlife conservationists alike in India.

On the substance, what are the risks of such a move for local communities on both sides of the border – and for the ecosystem of the region?

Beyond the headlines, the India-Bangladesh border runs along the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

More precisely, the Ministry of Home Affairs noted in its report last year that, despite the punishing terrain, the BSF has diligently performed its duty to curb illegal cross-border activities and undocumented migration from Bangladesh.

The bottom line

• India’s 4,096km-long (2,545-mile) border with Bangladesh runs through some challenging terrain – and New Delhi has found some stretches impossible to fence.
• The partition of British India in 1947 sliced through the region of Bengal, with people on either side of the border still sharing cultural and ethnic roots.
• The government’s latest move to fence the border with Bangladesh has alarmed human rights activists and wildlife conservationists alike in India.
• Searches spiking right now: Why is India turning to crocodiles and snakes to ‘fence’ Bangladesh border?, India’s Bangladesh gamble, India Mulls Deployment of Crocodiles and Snakes at Border with Bangladesh - The Diplomat – Asia, India mulls reptile river guards on Bangladesh border.