SAARC Diary: Air Chief Marshal on Visit to Bangladesh
NEW DELHI June 29: The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC, has reached Dhaka on a three-day visit to Bangladesh at the request of his counterpart. It is his second which followed a visit by Army Chief Gen MM Naravane in April.
The Air Chief Marshal has been invited as the Chief Guest of the Commissioning Ceremony on the occasion of President Parade-2021 at Bangladesh Air Force Academy (BAFA), Jessore. This is the first time an Indian Air Chief has the honour of reviewing the BAFA Parade, demonstrating the great commitment and trust that both Air Forces repose in each other.
The Indian Embassy in Dhaka stated, “The Chief of the Indian Air Force is scheduled to pay courtesy calls to all senior officers of the Bangladesh Armed Forces and during his visit will meet with senior officers of the Bangladesh Air Force.”
During his stay, he will also visit major BAF air bases in Bangladesh. By laying a wreath at the shrine of Shikha Anirban in Dhaka Cantonment, the Air Chief Marshal would also pay honour to personnel of the Bangladesh Armed Forces who rendered supreme sacrifices during the Liberation War of 1971.
Bhutan:
As part of the India@75 Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, the Embassy of India in Thimphu conducted a special programme on Saturday to give awards to the winners of competitions held for Bhutanese nationals in recent months.
Jai Bir Rai, Minister of Education was the Chief Guest at the ceremony and presented all the awards and certificates to the winners of the competitions such as Bharat Ko Janiye Quiz, World Hindi Day competition held in two age categories, India@75 Inter Dzongkhag Quiz Competition for Bhutanese school students and National Yoga Competition for Bhutanese youth.
Ruchira Kamboj, the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, presented 100 copies of the book ‘Bhutan At Her Best – Sunrays Through the Rain’ to the Ministry of Education for distribution to Bhutanese schools. She expressed gratitude to Lyonpo Jai Bir Rai and Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) Television, which live telecast the India@75 Quiz Finals, for their active collaboration with the Embassy of India.
A statement from the Embassy of India in Thimphu stated, “Kamboj also recognised the efforts of the four-member music group that made the ‘Bhutan for Bharat’ music video to demonstrate unity with India. G R Upreti, Pashupati Diyali, Ashis Pokhrel, and Matrika are among the cast members. Prasad Sharma also entertained the audience with a mix of renowned Bollywood tunes.
(Venkatesh Iyer)
