On Bangladesh's request, India to remove 'East Pakistan' pillars at border

New Delhi: Pillar's with 'East Pakistan' written on them would soon be removed from the India-Bangladesh border after the go-ahead was received by the Border Security Force (BSF) from the central government.

Bangladesh had requested the removal of the pillars so that it can erect new pillars with the country's name. The decision to remove the pillar was approved by the Centre and BSF has been directed to do the ground-work. "We have received the go-ahead to remove the pillars from the central government. In the first phase, 31 pillars would be changed. We will remove 13 pillars in Assam while Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) would remove the remaining 18," said a top BSF official.

It is important to note here that BSF is not just responsible for patrolling and securing the Indo-Bangladesh border but also carries out maintenance work in border areas.

(Also read: India operationalises first smart fence on Bangladesh border in Assam)

The pillars in question were erected before Bangladesh gained independence and was still part of West Pakistan but referred to as East Pakistan. The country fought a bitter war with Pakistan to gain independence in 1971 but despite decades since, some of the pillars at the border with India continued to refer to the country by its former name.