Eight Indian military veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War reached Dhaka while eight officers of Bangladesh Army arrived in Kolkata to join the Vijay Diwas celebrations in the two countries, officials said.
Bangladesh officials and Indian high commission in Dhaka said two serving officers from both sides comprised the delegations that will attend the celebrations in Dhaka and Kolkata. They reached their destination cities on Sunday.
The Bangladesh delegation consisted of Mukti Jodhas, who were part of the guerrilla resistance force in East Pakistan opposing the Pakistan rule there.
The Vijay Diwas celebration and visit of the two countries' delegations come amidst strains over the alleged violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh since the ouster of ex-premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime in a student-led uprising on August 5. Hasina fled the country and has since taken refuge in India.
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus has categorically denied any major communal violence. Hindus comprise about eight percent of Bangladesh's population.
"The exchange of veterans' visits is a reminder of friendship forged in 1971," a political analyst in Dhaka said.
He said Indian external affairs secretary Vikram Misri’s one-day Dhaka visit on December 9 for foreign office consultations with his counterpart Jashim Uddin partly eased the tensions in bilateral ties as he also met Yunus and his de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain.
“Now the exchange of the veterans’ visits is expected to manifest the goodwill of both the countries for each other,” the analyst said.
Both India and Bangladesh celebrate the victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, and each year invite the other's war veterans and serving officers to participate in the celebrations in both countries.
Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on March 26 but Dhaka emerged as the free capital of a free country on December 16 after nine months of Liberation War with crucial Indian assistance.
"These annual bilateral visits afford an opportunity to Mukti Jodhas and the Freedom Fighters to reminisce upon the singular relationship between two countries," stated Indian High Commission in its release.
It added: The celebration of this victory revives memories of the Liberation War, that epitomises the common sacrifices that the armed forces of India and Bangladesh made in their relentless pursuit of ridding the land of the evil grasp of occupation, oppression, and mass atrocities.
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