It was named after its architect, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who, as chairman of the Border Commissions, was charged with equitably dividing 450,000 square kilometres (175,000 sq mi) of territory with 88 million people based on religious lines.

Several skirmishes occurred along the border during the 1970s, years after the victory of the Battles of Belonia Bulge by the Mukti Bahini and allied Indian troops.[4][5][relevant?]

[6] The joint boundaries commission was to meet in the first week of November to finalise the Belonia border within the framework of the Indira-Mujib agreement.

[7] Bangladesh Rifles and the Border Security Force both exchanged fire in the beginning days of November thus starting intense gunbattles between the two sides.

A joint survey team of India and Bangladesh visited the area and watched bullets flying across the disputed land for 90 minutes.

[10] After the three-day talks, the two delegations issued a brief joint statement in which, both sides agreed to exercise maximum restraint and avoided provocation to ensure the return of normalcy in the Muhuri Char area of the Belonia sector on the Tripura-Comilla border.

[citation needed] The border is used as a route for smuggling livestock, food items, medicines, and drugs from India to Bangladesh.

Because of a large number of illegal immigrants crossing from Bangladesh into India, a controversial shoot-on-sight policy has been enforced by the Indian border patrols.

In July 2009, Channel 4 News reported that hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF along the Indo-Bangladeshi border fence during its construction.

The report stated that over 900 Bangladeshi citizens were killed during the first decade of the 21st century, many of whom crossed the border for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities.

On 7 January 2011, BSF forces killed 15-year-old Felani Khatun after she became tangled while climbing the border fence during a return trip to Bangladesh.

The prime ministers of India and Bangladesh signed a Land Boundary Agreement in 1974 to exchange all enclaves and simplify the international border.

A revised version of the agreement was finally adopted by the two countries when the Parliament of India passed the 119th Amendment to the Indian Constitution on 7 May 2015.

India and Bangladesh, with different perceptions of their maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zone, engaged in eight rounds of bilateral negotiations since 1974, which remained inconclusive until 2009 when both agreed to undergo arbitration under the UNCLOS.

[39] Dispute also included South Talpatti (also called "New Moore"), a small uninhabited offshore sandbar that emerged as an Island in the aftermath of the Bhola cyclone in 1970, and disappeared around March 2010.

[40][41] Designated Integrated Check Posts (ICP, with both customs and immigration facilities) and Land Customs Stations (LCS) are:[42] Transport between India and Bangladesh bears much historical and political significance for both countries, which possessed no ground transport links for 43 years, starting with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947.

[45] In 2001, another bus service was launched to connect Dhaka with Agartala, the capital of the Indian state of Tripura, the second-largest city of Northeast India that borders Bangladesh in the east.

[61][62][63][64][65] It is not only a market for locals and tourists for buying daily commodities but also a reunion spot for families living on both sides of the international border.