Watch: India, Bangladesh celebrate 50 years of friendship at Expo 2020 Dubai

Dubai: With cross-cultural music and dance, the India pavilion, in collaboration with Bangladesh Pavilion, celebrated Maitri Diwas (India-Bangladesh Friendship Day) at Expo 2020 Dubai on Tuesday.

The celebration is a significant milestone for India-Bangladesh partnership as both countries have reached 50 years of friendship, that is bound to continue to become stronger as a model for bilateral relation for the entire region, organisers said.

Maitri Diwas is officially celebrated every December 6. The decision to mark this Day of Friendship was taken by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during Modi’s official state visit to Bangladesh in March this year.

What Indian PM Modi says

On Monday, Modi took to Twitter to commemorate the ‘50 years of friendship’ between Indian and Bangladesh. He posted: “Today (Dec. 6) India and Bangladesh commemorate Maitri Diwas. We jointly recall and celebrate the foundations of our 50 years of friendship. I look forward to continue working with H.E. (Bangladesh) PM Sheikh Hasina to further expand and deepen our ties.”

Also on Monday, the Indian and Bangladeshi embassies held a joint celebration of Maitri Diwas in Abu Dhabi.

Aside from India, Bangladesh and the UAE, Maitri Diwas is also commemorated in 17 other countries, including Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Qatar, Singapore, UK, Australia, France, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE and USA.

Legacy of Tagore

The celebration of Maitri Diwas at the Indian Pavilion on Tuesday night started with the singing of India and Bangladesh national anthems, which were notably both written by Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore

To add more grandeur to the celebration of Maitri Diwas, the national flags of India and Bangladesh were emblazoned on the massive LED screen of the India Pavilion.

Indian Consul General Dr Aman Puri and B M Jamal Hossain, Consul General of Bangladesh to Dubai led the celebration, together with other dignitaries and staff from the two diplomatic missions.

Golden era of friendship

Puri called the celebration of Maitri Diwas as a “golden era of relationship between India and Bangladesh.

“May this (friendship) continue to grow and transform into more enormous good that will transform into more benefits for the people of India and Bangladesh and the region.

Puri added that the celebration was made more special as it happened at the Expo 2020 site. He said: “We must congratulate our host, the UAE, which is enabling the world to come together at Expo 2020 Dubai. It is a matter of pride that we are celebrating Maitri Diwas at India Pavilion as we send an important message to the government across the world that we must use this global platform (Expo Dubai) to collaborate more for the benefit of our people in our respective countries.

Shared sacrifices

Hossain, for his part, highlighted the long friendship between India and Bangladesh. He said: “India was one of the first countries to recognise the birth of Bangladesh. On Dec. 6, 1971, 10 days before the independence of Bangladesh, India decided to formally acknowledge the new country.”

He added India and Bangladesh have shared sacrifices and the holding of Maitri Diwas is a reflection of this deep between the two countries.

Hossain also noted both countries collaborate on wide sectors, including border security, defence, infrastructure, and in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.