NEW DELHI: Lauding the launch of ‘Akashvani Maitree’ as a major step towards increasing people-to-people contacts, prime minister Narendra Modi has congratulated All India Radio for contributing to the foreign policy of the country.

He also announced on Sunday during his monthly Mann ki Baat on All India Radio that ‘Akashvani Maitree’ will exchange programmes with ‘Bangladesh Betaar’ so that there is greater interaction between the two countries.

Noting that some people may ask why President Pranab Mukherjee should be invited to inaugurate a radio station, Modi said this was no ordinary venture and was aimed at increasing the bonds of friendship between the two neighbouring countries.

He said both West Bengal and Bangladesh shared the same cultural heritage and so, it was a major move by All India Radio.

Akashvani Maitree and its multimedia website is a unique venture and initiative of All India Radio not only for the Bengali listeners in West Bengal, Bangladesh and the adjoining areas but the entire Bengali speaking diaspora living in different parts of the globe.

The station is a terrestrial channel beamed from Chinsurah from a state-of-the-art DRM high power transmitter which is capable of reaching out to listeners in both West Bengal and the whole of Bangladesh.

Earlier, AIR External Services Director Amlan Jyoti Mazumdar had earlier told radioandmusic.com that the most unique aspect was that the new channel would also beam programmes that are either co-productions or produced by producers from Bangladesh. It could also be streamed online on airworldservice.org.

Also read

Indo-Bangladesh radio channel Akashvani Maitree launched by President Mukherjee