Dhaka, Delhi to make mega-film on war

The governments of Bangladesh and India are set to jointly make a mega-film on the Liberation War of 1971.

The two governments have agreed to consider collaboration to make a mega-film on the war that gave birth to Bangladesh. They also agreed to set up a Joint Working Group for cooperation in the information and broadcasting sector.

The proposal for bilateral collaboration to make the film on the 1971 war was discussed in a meeting between Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu and his Indian counterpart Manish Tiwari in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Indian government said in a media statement the two ministers agreed to work towards a roadmap to finalise the proposal shortly.

Inu told Tiwari that the Delhi could consider providing Dhaka the names of the Indian Army soldiers, who had laid down their lives during the Liberation War. He said that the Bangladesh government would like to recognise their role in the historic event.

Official sources in New Delhi said that two ministers agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of a Joint Working Group to provide a roadmap for future collaborations between the two countries in the critical areas of the information and broadcasting sector.

Inu requested Tiwari to facilitate down-linking of Bangladesh TV channels through the private distribution networks in India.

They agreed to step up the collaboration between Prasar Bharati, the largest public broadcaster of India, and Bangladesh Television in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two in 2011. The MoU had focused on mutual cooperation in the broadcast of television programmes between the two broadcasters.

Inu arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on an invitation from Tiwari.

The two ministers on Thursday also agreed to consider exchange of programmes and also explore the possibility of co-production of TV programmes. They explored the possibility of strengthening collaboration in training and capacity building in the information and broadcasting sector.

Inu and Tiwari decided to facilitate the exchange of archival material between the two countries, said an official of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India.