India to provide free journalism training to Bangladeshi journalists
India is offering a fully funded journalism and public relations course to Bangladeshi journalists, with training in media relations, strategic communication and AI. The programme has precedent, but its emphasis on journalism raises a question about what kind of media practice India is actually positioned to teach.
In a Nutshell:
- India will fund a seven day journalism and public relations course for Bangladeshi journalists in Hyderabad from October 25 to 31, covering media relations, strategic communication and AI in journalism.
- The course is aimed at journalists covering economy, finance, trade and energy, with India covering airfare, accommodation, course fees and living expenses.
- This is not the first such programme. India hosted Bangladeshi women journalists for an ITEC training programme in Kolkata in May, while previous ITEC courses for Bangladesh have included electronic and digital media management for young journalists.
Context
The programme comes under India’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation scheme, which has long been used to provide fully funded professional training to participants from developing countries. India says Bangladesh receives 185 ITEC training slots annually, alongside another 30 under the Colombo Plan. There is therefore a clear precedent for India training Bangladeshi media professionals. In May, a group of Bangladeshi women journalists travelled to Kolkata for an ITEC programme titled “Journalism for a Better World: Reporting for SDGs”. In April, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma had also proposed further ITEC capacity building initiatives for Bangladeshi journalists and media professionals. The new course is more specific in its focus. It is designed for mid career journalists with five to ten years of experience who cover economic and business sectors, and combines journalism with public relations, media relations and strategic communication. It will also include visits to Hyderabad’s technology sector and interactions with start ups.
Why it matters
There is a difference between training journalists in professional techniques and teaching them how journalism should function in practice. India’s ITEC media programmes have included journalism practices and ethics as formal training objectives, so the programme can legitimately offer professional skills that Bangladeshi journalists may find useful. The difficulty is that the training comes from a media environment whose own record is deeply contested. Reporters Without Borders ranks India 157th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, making it the lowest ranked country in South Asia. RSF describes the rise of what it calls “Godi media”, referring to outlets it says combine populism with pro BJP propaganda, alongside concentrated media ownership and pressure on critical journalists. When the host country itself routinely flouts the principles of ethical journalism with their media sector influenced by the state, it is ironic to expect that they can train Bangladeshi journalists to exercise editorial independence.
What we think
The entire training programme itself is not meaningless as India can offer useful technical and professional instruction in areas such as AI. But this is also a soft-power exercise. The course combines journalism with public relations and strategic communication, targeting journalists who cover trade, energy and finance; areas where India has clear interests in Bangladesh.