A joint beating retreat ceremony will be inaugurated at the integrated check post at Fulbari (Indian border town)- Banglabandha (Bangladeshi side), along the Indo- Bangladesh border on 23 January. Border Security Force director general KK Sharma and his counterpart, director general of Border Guard Bangladesh, Mj Gen Abul Hossain, are scheduled to inaugurate the event.
Parades, march past, and lowering of the national flags of both the countries would be a daily routine at sundown following the inauguration. Such joint retreat ceremony between two border guarding forces was launched at the Petrapole-Benapole border outpost on the Indo- Bangla border on 6 November 2013.
Officials said the ceremony will reflect on the friendly ties between both the countries that share a 4,096-km-long border. State tourism minster Gautam Deb said the state government would develop the infrastructure around the site for visitors there. “We will buy 10.35 acres of land from the local people for building the infrastructure,” Mr Deb said.
The minster is expected to be present in the event on 23 January. Other dignitaries from both the countries will be present, it is learnt. A senior BSF official had earlier said they have already got a go-ahead signal from the government and the headquarters, and had started practicing for the beating retreat. According to the official, while the entire plan is under the central government, the state government can help in building the infrastructure and in the land acquisition process.