GUWAHATI: “Educational and cultural connectivity between Bangladesh and India’s North East is very much required, apart from business and trade relations,” said Tipu Munshi, Minister of Commerce, Bangladesh at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on Wednesday.
Addressing students and academicians in a programme on “India’s North East and Bangladesh: Higher Education Roadmap” organised by USTM, Munshi said that connectivity of ‘heart to heart’ is very important for advancing relationship between Bangladesh and India which includes educational, sports and cultural connectivity.
He said that road connectivity between Shillong and Chittagong had to be improved and promised to do something in this direction. He said that considering the 1741 km long land border which the India’s north-eastern region shares with Bangladesh there are tremendous potentiality for the growth of Northeast India-Bangladesh cross border trade through the surface route.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Tanvir Monsur, Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, said that educational and cultural connectivity between Bangladesh and India’s North East can be started initially by introducing programmes like students’ exchange, 15-days excursion and workshop and then 4-years graduation programme.
He also mentioned about tourism sector in Meghalaya with potential tourists from Bangladesh. The other delegates from Bangladesh also delivered brief speeches on the occasion.
Welcoming the delegates, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM said, “As we are going global, we feel that the Act East Policy of India has not taken any initiative in the field of higher education, sports and culture which has the potential to increase people to people bonding”.
He said that Bangladesh Commerce Minister’s visit to India would create new vistas in developing the Indo-Bangladesh international corridor which is vital to India’s Act East Policy advancing mutually beneficial partnership in both conventional and non-conventional areas including Education, Research, Culture and Sports.