Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran has regretted that the kind of interaction he expects between Indian and Bangladeshi youths is not taking place.
He called it a “big tragedy” while giving a pre-departure briefing to 100 Bangladeshi youths who will travel different parts of India at New Delhi’s invitation from Monday.
“I do hope that you will find this experience of some value because it is in some sense a big tragedy that the kind of interaction that we should be having between India and Bangladesh at this level is not taking pace,” he said.
This will be the third group in as many successive years India is taking to let them see its history, culture as well as education.
The envoy who always emphasises knowing the neighbours in his speech said the culture that they would see was not “a distant culture”.
“…it takes just two hours to go to Delhi. It’s not just crossing seven seas to travel to another land,” he said.
During their stay, the delegation will visit famous cultural and historical sites besides interacting with educational, business, IT and technological institutions in New Delhi, Agra, Mumbai and Kolkata.
The delegation is also expected to call on President Pranab Mukherjee.
Young men and women from diverse institutions have been selected for the tour. Most of them are university students who would embark on their first foreign trip.
The High Commissioner encouraged them to interact with each other and represent the best of Bangladesh.
The Indian government hosts this programme as part of its efforts to make a bridge of understanding. Both countries have a large number of youths.
India is a big neighbour of Bangladesh, but there are irritants in the bilateral relations. This programme offers a scope of knowing each other as the youths of both sides will grow together.
Saran said they will be “ambassadors of Bangladesh” during the visit.
“When you go, you represent the 160 million people of Bangladesh, in one sense each of you represent huge population of Bangladesh,” he said.
Celebrated singer Habib Wahid and model Mehjabin also spoke at the pre-departure briefing to encourage the youth group who are aged between 22 and 35 years.
Habib encouraged them to spread the love of Bangladesh that he believed would “come back to you one day”.
Source: Bd news24