Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud said Bangladesh and India have a very good relationship and unity is needed to take the relationship forward.
“It is very normal that we have a good relationship with India as the country contributed to our Liberation War. We have no major differences of opinion. To carry forward the relationship, we have to work together,” he said.
Hasan Mahmud said this while addressing the Bangladesh-India relations-based reporting award on the occasion of Connections 2022 of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Alumni Association-Bangladesh (IIMCAA B) at Dhaka Club in the capital on Saturday.
Mentioning that relations between the two countries has reached a new height led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the minister said, “India had sheltered one crore Bangladeshi refugees during the Liberation War. Late Indira Gandhi had travelled to many countries to campaign for independence of Bangladesh and to free Bangabandhu from Pakistani jail. For these reasons, India’s name will be written forever in the history of Bangladesh.”
He also congratulated the award winners, saying IIMCAAB graduates can play an active role to accelerate the relationship between the two countries.
In the programme, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiwami said as a bosom friend India is committed to cooperating with Bangladesh to its level best.
IIMCAAB president and prime minister's press secretary Ihsanul Karim presided over the programme while IIMCAAB general saecretary Zahid Newaz Khan, senior journalist Azizul Islam Bhuiyan, among others, were present.
UNB Editor Farid Hossain also spoke at the event. He was the chief of the jury board of the Bangladesh-India relations-based reporting award.
News24 television's "Team Undercover" programme won the 2019 award for its in-depth investigation of how firearms are being smuggled into Bangladesh from India.
Prothom Alo Special Correspondent Raheed Ejaz won the 2020 award for his report: "Bangladesh-India relations through the lens of Dhaka: India wants Bangladesh as geopolitical partner."
Shamima Dola, editor of News Now Bangla, won the 2021 award for the reports "Line of credit: One of the bedrocks of India-Bangladesh ties," and "Implementation of motor vehicles agreement to increase Bangladesh-India trade by 25 percent."
IIMCAAB Joint Secretary Angur Nahar Monty conducted the programme while its Senior Vice President Azizul Islam Bhuiyan gave vote of thanks.
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