ICCR to set up a Bangabandhu Chair at Delhi University

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will set up a ‘Bangabandhu Chair’ at Delhi University. The Chair will focus on better understanding of developments in Bangladesh which is one of India’s most important neighbours as it is positioned at the strategic intersection of India’s Neighbourhood First and Act East policies.

The MoU for the establishment of the Chair will be signed on Monday, 12th July between the Director General of ICCR Dinesh K. Patnaik and the Acting Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Prof. P. C. Joshi, said a press release issued by the ICCR. The MoU will be for a duration of 5 academic years.

The initiative is the outcome of one of the understandings reached during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh in March this year during the Golden jubilee celebration of the liberation of Bangladesh and the birth centenary celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Chair will be occupied by a foreign visiting professor or subject expert on Bangladesh preferably a person of Bangladeshi origin. It will focus on the common heritage of the two countries and subjects like Anthropology, Buddhist Studies, Geography, History, Modern Indian languages including Bangla, Music, Fine Arts, Political Science, International relations and Sociology.

It is the first of its kind initiative of setting up a chair on Bangladesh in India which is an important step towards strengthening Indo-Bangladesh ties, said the press release.