Remarks by Mrs. Mukta D. Tomar, Deputy High Commissioner on the occasion of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day Reception বিবৃতি ও বক্তৃতা

Remarks by Mrs. Mukta D. Tomar, Deputy High Commissioner on the occasion of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day Reception

Hon’ble Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Hassan Mahmood,

Distinguished Guests,

I am grateful to the Hon’ble Minister for gracing this occasion with his august presence. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our distinguished guests, in particular to participants who have visited India for various ITEC training courses, at this special evening to celebrate ITEC Day.

2. As a close and friendly neighbour, it has been our endeavour to promote good relations with Bangladesh. India’s relations with Bangladesh are rooted in the very ethos and being of this country. It is rooted in the common and shared values of a democratic polity, and longstanding fraternal, linguistic and cultural ties. It is therefore, natural that the ordinary citizens of our two countries aspire for enhanced people to people contact and closer interaction in all spheres. Over the years, we have consistently undertaken to build on the very strong foundation of our relationship. Mindful of the fact that our progress is inextricably linked to that of our neighbours, we have, in the recent past, taken several unilateral steps without insisting on reciprocity from Bangladesh. These include lifting the ban on FDI from Bangladesh, allowing the export of eight million pieces of readymade garments from Bangladesh to India duty-free, providing duty-free access to several items and pruning the sensitive list for promoting exports from Bangladesh to India. Today, with the return of multiparty democracy in Bangladesh, India remains even more committed to strengthening its relations with Bangladesh.

3. A brief word about ITEC. Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme in short ITEC was conceived in 1964 by Government of India as it was realised that most of the then newly independent countries did not have adequate trained manpower, social and economic base or resources for development. ITEC is a bilateral programme and is response oriented aimed at addressing the needs of developing countries. Under this Programme India imparts training to civilian as well as defence personnel in technical and specialised courses in different sectors. India welcomes more than 4000 participants every year from 156 countries from all continents. India expends about Rupees 500 million annually on training under the ITEC programme.

4. Bangladesh is an important ITEC Partner and I am happy to state that Bangladesh has been availing training facilities under ITEC Programmes since its independence. In fact, just in the last three years more than 400 participants from Bangladesh have received training in India, and about 550 participants from Bangladesh have attended the special course conducted by Tata Consultancy Services under ‘Train the Trainer Programme in Information Technology’. 

5. I would invite Bangladesh to continue to make full use of opportunities presented under the ITEC programme. We consider all ITEC participants as special partners in our endeavour to strengthen India-Bangladesh ties. I would invite all ITEC participants to continue their association with India, and contribute to building a better and stronger bilateral relationship that will benefit the future generations of both our countries. With these words, let me once again thank and welcome all our guests this evening.

May I now request Hon’ble Minister to say a few words.