CHENNAI: Bangladesh is in the process of establishing a Deputy High Commission in Chennai. This will be its first Deputy High Commission in the south.
Bangladesh already has two Deputy High Commissions in Kolkata and Mumbai. Also, it has two assistant high commissions in Guwahati and Agartala.
“Bangladesh has extensive cooperation with South India in many sectors notably technical cooperation, human resource development, trade, commerce, tourism, medical cooperation and connectivity,” said H E Syed Muazzem Ali, High Commissioner of Bangladesh. He said once the mission in Chennai is opened, it will be a catalyst in further strengthening and diversifying the growing cooperation with South India.
Pointing out that the southern States are hubs of IT centres, prominent educational and research bodies and medical centres which have been helpful to Bangladesh, he said around 10,000 professionals from south india are estimated to be employed in Bangladesh.
The South’s advancement in the medical field has resulted in a large number of Bangladeshi patients coming to South India for specialised treatment. “In 2017, about 2,00,000 medical tourists visited India and contributed significantly to the income of medical tourism,” he said, claiming around 300-400 patients visit Vellore everyday for treatment.
Bangladesh and India are connected by a golden thread when it comes to the cotton trade. It is learnt that raw cotton and textile materials worth USD two billion is imported from India. “A bulk of it comes from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” he said. He also said introduction of coastal shipping connecting Chittagong with Visakhapatnam and Chennai maritime connectivity has been established and it will considerably boost trade volumes between the two countries.
The High Commissioner who is slated to meet with the Confederation of Indian Industry in the coming week, re emphasised that Indo-Bangladesh relations are “best-ever” and under the leadership of Sheik Hasina and Narendra Modi, the relations between the two nations have gone beyond strategic cooperation and now encompasses all aspects of bilateral cooperation.
“There is no greater recognition on both sides that the destinies of our two neighbouring countries are inseparably intertwined and we must grow together. Our stability and prosperity, and our long term benefit can be best served by strengthening our relations,” the High Commissioner said.