For many years, the Indian hill station of Mussoorie served as a mid-career training school for Bangladeshi civil servants, a symbol of close and stable ties between the two neighbours. But with relations under stress, agreements expiring and visa hurdles, Dhaka has replaced Mussoorie with Lahore.
New Training Programme in Lahore
Twelve Bangladeshi bureaucrats are undergoing training from May 4 to 21 at the Lahore-based Civil Services Academy. This marks the first such structured programme between Bangladesh and Pakistan, which have grown closer and strengthened cooperation in several sectors since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster as Prime Minister.
However, many in Dhaka believe the situation could change, with officials going for training programmes to both India and Pakistan, as Dhaka and New Delhi seek to reset their ties.
Previous Arrangements with India
Till 2024, Bangladeshi officials travelled to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie for training. The arrangement began in 2014 under the Hasina government through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh’s public administration ministry and the Delhi-based National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), ministry officials said. They noted that a second MoU was signed on February 9, 2019, and a third in Dhaka on April 30, 2024. The last agreement remained valid for one year.
Between 2019 and 2024, the NCGG trained 1,019 Bangladeshi civil servants under its capacity building programme (CBP) in field administration, according to the NCGG’s website. However, the total number of Bangladeshi officials, including civil servants, trained is around 2,500. Besides Bangladesh, officials from nations such as Maldives, Myanmar, Cambodia, Gambia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Kenya have also participated in CBPs.
Current Training Details
The Bangladesh ministry officials said that one additional secretary and 11 joint secretaries are undergoing training. The Pakistan government is bearing all expenses of the officers’ training. The Bangladesh government has no financial involvement in this visit. The officers will have to submit a report after returning home after the training, a ministry notification said.
