📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Bijay chaurasia
International
India-Nepal Joint Working Group Tackles Trans-Border Crime and Border Encroachments
✍️ BusinessLine
🗓 23 Aug 2026, 06:37 AM
👁 2
The India-Nepal Joint Working Group met to discuss rising trans‑border crime, pending border‑infrastructure projects and illegal encroachments along the shared frontier.
Senior officials from the ministries of home affairs of India and Nepal convened the bilateral Joint Working Group (JWG) to review security and development issues along their 1,770‑kilometre border. The two sides exchanged assessments of recent cross‑border criminal activities, including smuggling of goods and illicit movement of persons.
Participants highlighted a noticeable uptick in trans‑border crime that threatens local economies and public safety on both sides. They agreed to enhance intelligence sharing and to conduct joint patrols in identified hotspots to curb smuggling and human‑trafficking networks.
The discussion also covered long‑pending border‑infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity and surveillance. Both governments pledged to accelerate construction of roads, check‑posts and fencing where feasible, while addressing illegal encroachments that have emerged in several border villages.
In concluding the meeting, the JWG members committed to a quarterly review mechanism to monitor progress on crime‑prevention measures and infrastructure development, underscoring the strategic importance of a secure and well‑managed frontier for Indo‑Nepal relations.
Participants highlighted a noticeable uptick in trans‑border crime that threatens local economies and public safety on both sides. They agreed to enhance intelligence sharing and to conduct joint patrols in identified hotspots to curb smuggling and human‑trafficking networks.
The discussion also covered long‑pending border‑infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity and surveillance. Both governments pledged to accelerate construction of roads, check‑posts and fencing where feasible, while addressing illegal encroachments that have emerged in several border villages.
In concluding the meeting, the JWG members committed to a quarterly review mechanism to monitor progress on crime‑prevention measures and infrastructure development, underscoring the strategic importance of a secure and well‑managed frontier for Indo‑Nepal relations.