Towards a new path  Glimpses of Indo- Bangla Joint Expedition and Training Exercise Recently, a team of Bangladesh Army participated in a joint training exercise with the Indian Army in Jorhat of Assam. This is for the first time that military forces of the two neighbouring countries have done so. In the very recent past, six members of Bangladesh Army, including two officers, participated in a mountaineering expedition. Those were the events that offered both the countries opportunities to interact with each other and benefit from the experience thus gained. It is worth mentioning that the history of ancient Europe was full of mistrust, hegemonic behaviour and wars, including two world wars. As history suggests, the two Great Wars were initiated by Austria against Serbia and Germany against Poland respectively. After the era of Cold War, at the eve of 20th century, European Union (EU) emerged as the uniting force. Now they have a common market as well as a common currency that paves the way for further progress. Now the people of Europe enjoy more economic strength, security, and other amenities than that of other parts of the world. Their level of trust and confidence has gone to such a height that these days they require minimum formalities to travel within the continent. Bangladesh, who has the highest contribution to peacekeeping efforts, believes in the spirit of - 'friendship to all, malice to none.' However, we need to strengthen friendly relations with our neighbours. To do so we need to come out of all prejudice and be more forward looking. Probably the above-mentioned events are the beginning of a journey through a new path. The author is serving as a Grade-1 Staff Officer in the Army HQ |
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