The roots of amity should best begin early.

Acting on this principle, 24 children of BSF officers and personnel from Tripura, Mizoram and Assam began a tour to Bangladesh as part of the five-day Friendship Visit to build camaraderie between the BSF and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).

The children, comprising 14 boys and 10 girls, began their journey from here on Sunday morning via the Agartala-Akhaura integrated checkpost and will return on February 21.

A special sending-off ceremony was organised at 8.30am on Sunday at the integrated checkpost under the chairmanship of BSF Tripura frontier deputy inspector-general (DIG) Ashok Kumar Jadav.

Jadav said, “The programme involves both road and air journey from the Agartala-Akhaura integrated checkpost to Sylhet district in Bangladesh. In Sylhet, the children will hike around the rocky and plateau areas of Jaflong in the district. They will also have the opportunity to visit Sylhet’s Ratargul forest area to see the mangroves.”

“Following visits to places of attraction, they will be undertaking a flight journey to the capital city of Dhaka where the children will visit prominent historical places like the National Museum, National Martyrs’ Monument, Gazipur safari park, Dhaka cantonment area and others,” Jadav added.

“Apart from this, the children will enjoy the hospitality of the BGB in their headquarters at Peelkhana. During their stay at Peelkhana, the BGB run Birshreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College will organise a cultural programme to entertain the children,” Jadav added.