To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country’s Liberation War as well as India’s diplomatic ties with Dhaka and to honour the founding father of Bangladesh, The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will establish the ‘Bangabandhu Chair’ at the Delhi University.
The Chair will be occupied by a foreign visiting professor or A foreign visiting professor would be occupying the chair and he would be subject’s expert on Bangladesh.
The people of Bangladesh also called Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as ‘Bangabandhu’ which means (friend of Bengal)
A memorandum signed by Dinesh K Patnaik, Director General, ICCR and PC Joshi, acting DU Vice-Chancellor, stated that adding the MoU will be for a duration of five academic years.
“The ICCR will be establishing ‘Bangabandhu Chair’ at Delhi University to honour Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Bangladesh and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Bangladesh diplomatic relations,” the statement said.
“This initiative is the outcome of one of the understandings reached during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Bangladesh in March 2021. Bangabandhu Chair focus is on better understanding of developments in Bangladesh, one of India’s most important neighbours, positioned at the strategic intersection of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies,” the ICCR said in the official statement.
The ICCR said that the chair is being set up to maintain India-Bangladesh ties and increase the incoming of Bangladeshi students to study in India, .
It stated that this step will bring exchanges in field of art and culture between the two countries. It would also boost the economic growth with socio economic standards.
The focus of the chair will be on the Indo-Bangladesh common cultural heritage and subjects like, Buddhist Studies, Geography, History, Indian Languages (including Bangla), Music, Arts, Political Science, International Relations, Sociology and anthropology, it stated.
A tweet by Delhi University stated that, “In a couple of days, University of Delhi would enter a historic MoU with ICCR, MEA, Govt of India featuring creation of Bangladesh Chair. A first of its kind! Long Live Indo-Bangladesh Friendship!!”
