New Delhi's prestigious St Stephen's College has invited applications from Bangladeshi students to join the three-year bachelor's programme at the premium education institution. The move is part of India's efforts to upgrade its ties with Bangladesh in all areas as it marks 50 years of independence of its neighbouring South Asian nation.

The Indian High Commission in Bangladesh put out a tweet too asking Bangladeshi students wishing to study at St Stephen's to send in their applications to the education  ministry in Dhaka.

An insider said that Bangladeshi students will be given "some sort of priority" even in other colleges, including medicine, engineering and business administration in case they apply.

In 2018-19, India had over 47,000 foreign students from 164 countries. Over 1,500 students hailed from the US, reports said.

After Nepal and Afghanistan, Bangladesh stood third in terms of the number of students studying in India.

"As a close neighbour, it is a very positive opportunity for Bangladesh to grab for its students. Because Bangladeshi students are now more active than any previous history in higher education. Bangladeshi students are now going abroad very frequently for educational purposese And Indian education is a lucrative option for them to get," the Diplomatist, a monthly magazine focusing on international relations and foreign affairs said.

The Narendra Modi government is also expected to carve out more measures that would showcase India as an education hub. The government's eStudy in India' programme, approved in 2018, aims at boosting India's image as soft power. Promoting the Study in India programme will also serve as "a powerful tool for diplomacy" especially with countries in the south-east Asian, Middle East and African region.

While traditionally India remained the preferred destination among foreign students from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and even Sri Lanka to pursue higher education, China has turned out to be a huge competition in the last few years.

Under the recently approved National Education Policy (NEP), India has also thrown open its doors to foreign universities. 

(Under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

(IANS)