Bangladesh envoy reaches Dhaka via Akhaura and Ashuganj
India’s newly appointed envoy to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami seems to have made history of sorts by doing the unthinkable — travelling to Dhaka via road and documenting every step of his journey on Twitter.
He reached Dhaka through Akhaura land border and Ashuganj. Akhaura is 5 km from Agartala and is the international border between India and Bangladesh. The border has the facility of both passenger and freight movement.
HC-designate Sh. Vikram K. Doraiswami (@VDoraiswami), accompanied by his wife Smt. Sangeeta Doraiswami, arrived in #Dhaka, through Akhaura land border, on 05 October 2020 to take charge as the 17th High Commissioner of #India to the People’s Republic of #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/kA5JoB0cAm
— India in Bangladesh (@ihcdhaka) October 5, 2020
“Reached Dhaka via Akhaura, and Ashuganj. Some images of Shonar Bangla’s lush green countryside and the border crossing. And portraits of Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in his birth centenary,” tweeted Doraiswami as he crossed the border to take charge of his new assignment while posting images from his trip throughout the journey.
#RoadtoBangladesh
Reached Dhaka via Akhaura, and Ashuganj. Some images of Shonar Bangla's lush green countryside and the border crossing. And portraits of Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in his birth centenary. pic.twitter.com/rmCOigAR9R
— Vikram Doraiswami (@VDoraiswami) October 5, 2020
Doraiswami replaced Riva Ganguly Das, who left Bangladesh on 1 October to assume the post of Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Before beginning his journey, Doraiswami met Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais as well as Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in order to get his “specific and clear guidance for the Mission ahead”.
“Inspired by his strong advocacy of the closest India-Bangladesh ties!” he said in a tweet on 3 October.
An honour and a privilege to meet Hon. CM @BjpBiplab and get his specific and clear guidance for the Mission ahead. inspired by his strong advocacy of the closest India-Bangladesh ties! @indhicomdhaka @MEAIndia @harshvshringla https://t.co/5ee97IFfzL
— Vikram Doraiswami (@VDoraiswami) October 3, 2020
The following day, in order to showcase India’s growing connectivity with Bangladesh via India’s Northeast, Doraiswami visited the Nischintpur site of Akhaura-Agartala rail link, Srimantapur ICS and Sonamura, Belonia border and ICP, Feni River Maitri bridge and SEZ sites.
In Belonia, a quaint town in Tripura, Doraiswami also spoke about his “personal link” as his wife — Sangeeta Doraiswami — is the great grand-daughter of a civil engineer who built an ashram there in the 1920s after coming from Chattogram, Dhaka.
#RoadtoBangladesh
A personal link to Belonia: Ashram set up by Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, a civil engineer from Chattogram in the 1920s. Visited after nearly 100 years with his great grand-daughter, on her first visit to this site. She's also my better half. pic.twitter.com/YahYajsnhD
— Vikram Doraiswami (@VDoraiswami) October 4, 2020
Immediately after arriving in Bangladesh, he went straight to 32 Dhanmondi, the House of the Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, “to pay heartfelt tribute to his memory…”
Reaching Dhaka by road from the Tripura border, I went first to 32 Dhanmondi, the House of the Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, to pay heartfelt tribute to his memory, in #mujibbarsho. May his vision of our partnership inspire us all @HarshShringla @MdShahriarAlam https://t.co/ip6HToptIj
— Vikram Doraiswami (@VDoraiswami) October 9, 2020
“Arriving in #Dhaka on 5/10/20, HC @VDoraiswamipaid homage to Jatir Pita of #Bangladesh at #Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. Strengthening the unparalleled #IndiaBangladesh friendship is a vehicle to realising Bangabandhu’s vision,” said a tweet by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
Humble Tribute to a luminary:
Arriving in #Dhaka on 5/10/20, HC @VDoraiswami paid homage to Jatir Pita of #Bangladesh at #Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. Strengthening the unparalleled #IndiaBangladesh friendship is a vehicle to realizing Bangabandhu’s vision. pic.twitter.com/edrJLB2VLP
— India in Bangladesh (@ihcdhaka) October 9, 2020
Last week, on 8 October, Doraiswami presented his credentials to Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.
One only hopes that Doraiswami’s new assignment turns out to be as exciting as his journey from India to Bangladesh.
Hindi lessons for Karnataka BJP leader
Newly appointed BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi is going all out to brush up his Hindi speaking skills.
An ardent proponent of Kannada language and culture, Ravi’s elevation in the BJP at the national level has made him think of taking Hindi lessons, sources in Ravi’s close circle said.
Ravi was Karnataka’s culture and tourism minister before he was made the party’s general secretary.
A crash course in Hindi will help this BJP strongman find himself comfortably conversing with his Delhi counterparts.
In early 2007, when a Hindi news channel reporter asked Ravi to speak in Hindi, he became nervous. He had to practise his statement for an hour to finally deliver it with a mix of Sanskrit and Kannada.
With a chuckle, he told the reporter: “The root of all languages is Sanskrit. With this, I have managed to reach out to more people than just speaking in Hindi.”
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Indian envoy to Bangladesh ought to be a Bengali career diplomat. He would be in a better position to understand the politics there because of the familiarity of language/culture. Just like the world media send Bengali speaking reporters to cover Bangladesh and Hindi speaking reporters to India.