Kolkata: A nine-member delegation comprising Mukti Joddhas and serving officers of the Bangladeshi armed forces arrived here on Sunday evening to attend the Vijay Diwas celebrations, a defence official said.
The Vijay Diwas celebrations on Monday will be attended by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said.
The nine-member delegation is headed by a brigadier-rank officer of the Bangladesh Army, the official said.
Six other family members of the delegates are also accompanying them for attending the Vijay Diwas celebrations in Kolkata on December 16, which marks the Indian Armed Forces' historic victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, he said.
A Bangladesh delegation comprising Mukti Joddhas, who were part of the guerrilla resistance force in East Pakistan opposing the Pakistan rule there, and serving officers of the Bangladesh armed forces attend the Vijay Diwas celebrations held by the Indian Army's Eastern Command in Kolkata every year.
Governor Bose will attend the wreath-laying ceremony in the morning at Eastern Command headquarters Fort William here, the defence official told PTI.
Banerjee will attend the military tattoo, a display by the armed forces, in the afternoon at the Military Training Centre here, to honour the indomitable spirit of the 1971 war heroes defeating the Pakistani armed forces that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
The defence official said that war veterans of the Indian armed forces who had taken part in the 1971 war will be attending the events on December 16, the day on which Pakistan's Eastern Army surrendered at Dhaka in 1971.
The Eastern Army Command, which is headquartered at Fort William here, will hold a series of programmes on Vijay Diwas to mark the historic victory.
Bangladesh has been in turmoil for the past several months and since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5. Bangladesh's minority Hindus, which constitute only about 8 per cent of the 170 million population, have faced over 200 attacks.
