India And Bangladesh To Consider Joint Collaboration On Mega-Film On “War Of Liberation”

BOTH COUNTRIES AGREE TO EXPLORE SETTING  UP OF JOINT WORKING GROUP IN THE INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SECTOR

SHRI MANISH TEWARI MEETS BANGLADESH INFORMATION MINISTER MR HASANUL HAQ INU

Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari today met the Bangladesh Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr. Hasanul Haq Inu and had extensive discussions on critical issues related to Information and Broadcasting Sector.  During the discussions, both the Ministers agreed to consider a joint collaboration for  production of a mega film depicting the “War of Liberation”.    In this context, it was agreed to work towards a roadmap to finalize the proposal shortly. In this context, the Information Minister of Bangladesh also requested that the Government of India could consider providing the names of the soldiers who had laid down their lives during the War of Liberation.  He reiterated that the Government of Bangladesh would like to recognize their contribution made during this historical event.

            During the discussions, both the Ministers also agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of a Joint Working Group on the critical sectors of the Information and Broadcasting domain.  The Working Group would provide a roadmap for future collaborations between the two countries.  The Bangladesh Information Minister also requested the Minister for Information and Broadcasting to facilitate the downlinking of Bangladesh TV Channels through the private distribution network.  Both Ministers also agreed to intensify the collaboration between Prasar Bharti and Bangladesh State Television in view of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two entities in 2011.  The MoU had focused on mutual cooperation in the broadcast of television programmes between the two broadcasters.  It was also mentioned that both countries could consider exchange of programmes and also explore the possibility of executive TV co-production.   Both Shri Tewari and Shri Hasanul Haq Inu discussed the possibility of strengthening collaboration as far as training and capacity building was concerned between institutions of mutual interests. 

During the discussions, both Ministers also agreed to facilitate the exchange of archival material between the two countries.  In this context, Shri Tewari highlighted the major policy initiatives undertaken by the Ministry that had enabled the sector to grow exponentially.  Specific reference was made to the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry to commemorate 100 years of Indian Cinema, the Digitization programme and the policies that were introduced to promote inclusive growth in the country. Both the Ministers were assisted by senior officials of the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting of India and Bangladesh.