A centenary, a golden jubilee and a vision for South Asia

The presence of no less than five South Asian heads of states and governments in Dhaka to celebrate the twin events of the centenary of the birth of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh was the most visible manifestation of the global respect for this great man and the journey of the nation he founded. It was also a most graphic recognition of the march of Bangladesh since its painful birth five decades ago. The series of video messages from global leaders like US President Joe Biden, Canada's Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Boris Johnson and China's Xi Jinping, Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi, Pakistan's Imran Khan and others in between, added further flavour to the 10 day long celebrations and gave the events a global character. That the arrangements were conducted seamlessly in the midst of a resurgent corona pandemic without compromising on either the ceremonials or the health protocols, is a major credit to the government of Bangladesh. Staggering the arrival and departure of the high level guests was part of that.

Bangladesh has maintained close relations with The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and India, bilaterally, regionally and on the international stage since the very beginning. Signing of a series of instruments between Bangladesh and the governments of Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, some in the form of MOUs and others more as promissory notes, will serve to further strengthen the bilateral ties between Bangladesh and these countries in the areas of connectivity, trade, tourism and people to people contact.