Highlighting the growing Dhaka-Delhi ties, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said how India and its people had supported Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War is written in blood.

While launching the Bangladesh Youth Delegation 2022 programme with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami at the high commission in Dhaka, Hasan said the relations between the two countries reached new heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The information minister emphasised strengthening people-to-people relations and hoped that such a programme will play an important role.

Doraiswami said the youth delegation programme will help the young people know each other and take the relationship forward to the next generation.

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The programme this time will be more inclusive and it is their best effort to reach out to the young people across Bangladesh and motivate them to become ambassadors of Bangladesh and ambassadors of the two countries' friendship, he added.

The high commissioner said this is an opportunity to connect the shared culture and other areas and build partnerships in several areas.

Hasan and Doraiswami also unveiled the official logo and launched the portal of the Bangladesh Youth Delegation 2022 which is now active for receiving applications up to June 30.

Arranging such an exchange programme for youth was not possible in the last two years due to the Covid pandemic.

It is a special moment that the youth exchange programme with Bangladesh has been resumed this year, said the high commission.

This international youth exchange programme is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Bangladesh's Ministry of Youth and Sports on cooperation on youth issues.

A hundred young leaders from various walks of life will be selected from Bangladesh, for a hosted visit to India to travel to economic, technological, industrial, cultural and historical places of interest.

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To ensure diversity and selection of the best talent from across various segments of the society, an open and inclusive selection process will be conducted by the Indian High Commission through interviews across all eight divisions of Bangladesh.

Alumni of previous Bangladesh Youth Delegation programmes will be associated with the process.

As part of their applications, candidates will have to fill in their CVs and share a link to a special short Facebook video that they must make.

The launch event was attended by nearly a hundred Bangladesh Youth Delegation alumni and other youth icons.

Participants can apply online by visiting the Indian High Commission website.

They need to be aged between 21 and 35 and must be a citizen of Bangladesh and should not possess dual citizenship.