‘Fluid situation of Bangladesh is major challenge for India’

Darjeeling: The fluid situation of Bangladesh is being seen as a major challenge for India, with a new front emerging.

Such a view was expressed by a former diplomat, talking to Millennium Post on the sidelines of an interactive session with UPSC aspirants in Darjeeling on Wednesday.

“The past few months have seen the dramatic unfolding of events on the Bangladesh front which poses a challenge for our country. The matter demands a fair assessment by our Government,” opined a former diplomat when posed with the question of the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh since Monday, over the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Das by Bangladesh authorities. Incidentally, with the change in guards in neighbouring Bangladesh, India’s relations with that country face a period of recalibration.

The Darjeeling Welfare Society (DWS), a non-profit welfare organisation, supported by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has started a free UPSC coaching programme.

As many as 61 aspirants are undertaking offline and online coaching for the UPSC from here.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, former Foreign Secretary of India and president, DWS, who was present for Wednesday’s programme held at Southfield College, Darjeeling, emphasised the need to support local talent and make top-tier coaching accessible to all in the Hills.

“The programme is aimed at providing a level playing field for the candidates appearing from the Hills, including remote areas,” he stated.

The interactive session in Darjeeling with former Diplomats of the 1984 IFS batch, was part of this programme.

“India’s power profiling is increasing by the day in the global arena. Even a few years back India was not taken so seriously. However, the situation has changed drastically now. We have come a long way. With improving national comprehensive power, we are a nation to reckon with. The successful Chandrayaan programme; the successful G20 summits hosted in India and the more than 100 medals in the Asian Games in China, bagged by India are all pointers to the rising comprehensive power of the nation. We need to identify our powers and develop them. We need to focus inwards on ourselves and ensure economic growth and per capita income,” suggested Gautam Bambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China and Bhutan.

Debnath Shaw, former Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan delved on the ‘human centric approach to foreign services.’ The former Ambassador has a deep connection with Darjeeling, having done his schooling from St. Joseph’s school. Narrating an interesting anecdote, Shaw stated “When I was posted in China, one day a farmer had travelled 3000 km from a remote village in South China to meet me. Even the interpreter at the Embassy could not understand his dialect. I was called. I spoke to the man and realised that he wanted help to trace his long lost brother who had settled in India. I assured him that we would help him and accordingly the details were sent to India. After around 2 months we got a response from Delhi that the long lost brother was running a restaurant in Guwahati. The details of his brother’s whereabouts were communicated to the farmer. One day a large sack was delivered by the postman at the Embassy. It contained freshly harvested nuts and was from the farmer, in gratitude for having helped in tracing his long lost brother In India.”

Former Ambassador Rajesh Kumar Sachdeva spoke on cultural diplomacy and how India is connected with many Southeast Asian countries through the epic Ramayana and textiles. Addressing the UPSC aspirants Former Ambassador to Germany Mukta Tomar advised that they should be ready to put in a lot of hard work and would inculcate a “never give-up” attitude. She also stressed on the value of time (punctuality) and discipline.