India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh's Border Guards (BGB) took part in an hour-long boat race on Friday in front of thousands of spectators in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district, in an effort to strengthen ties between the two paramilitary forces.

The BGB's team won the race, which was attended by local government and police officials and leaders of several political, cultural and social organisations, and saw civilians participate for the first time.

BSF Deputy Commander Parvind Rana said the two border security forces were "good friend(s)."

Many of their programmes are "running jointly with flag meetings (and) information sharing," said BGB 27 Battalion Captain Anisur Rahman.

BSF and BGB teams also played footballl and volleyball games yesterday, but these competitions weren't open to civilians. Involving members of the general public in the boat race was "a special achievement," Rahman said.

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The BGB's team won the race, in which civilians participated for the first time.