India, Nepal to hold annual border talks from Nov 12, first since Gen Z protests

Heads of the security forces of India and Nepal will hold their annual border talks here from Wednesday over a host of issues related to curbing trans-frontier crimes and sharing of real-time intelligence inputs.This will be the first time that the two forces — Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Armed Police Force (APF) of Nepal — will have a top-level meeting after the ‘Gen Z’ driven violent protests that rocked Kathmandu in September.

The 9th annual coordination meeting will be held between November 12-14, an official statement said.

The Indian side will be led by SSB Director General (DG) Sanjay Singhal, while the Nepalese delegation is headed by APF Inspector General (IG) Raju Aryal.The deliberations are expected to lay “special emphasis” on developing effective mechanisms for joint prevention of trans-border crimes, establishing faster and more efficient channels for real-time information sharing and reinforcing coordinated border management practices to ensure peace and security along the Indo-Nepal frontier, the SSB statement said.

The last such meeting between the two forces was held in November 2024 at Kathmandu.

The SSB guards the 1,751-km long unfenced border with Nepal. The force that functions under the Union home ministry also guards the 699-km long India-Bhutan border.