PM flies to Egypt today
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold a series of meetings with the heads of the states and government on the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) Summit to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves for Egypt this morning to attend the 15th summit that begins in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh tomorrow.
The planned construction of Tipaimukh dam and trade imbalance between Bangladesh and India might also come up for discussion at a crucial meeting to be held with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, sources said.
“Apart from bilateral issues, she is expected to have talks on combating terrorism and poverty reduction in South Asia,” a spokesman of Hasina told The Daily Star yesterday.
This will be the first bilateral meet between Sheikh Hasina who returned to power in January this year and Manmohan Singh who is in his second successive stint as prime minister after the Indian parliamentary polls held in April-May.PM flies to
Cairo today
Our New Delhi correspondent adds: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself spoke of the proposed meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a press statement in the Indian capital yesterday.
The Indian prime minister said, “during my stay in Sharm-el-Sheikh, I look forward to holding bilateral meetings with other leaders, including those of Bangladesh, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam”.
The statement was issued on the eve of Singh's departure for Paris and Sharm-el-Sheikh on a five-day visit.
The meeting between the two top leaders will take place about a week after Foreign Minister Dipu Moni held separate talks with Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in India.
Referring to the Nam summit, he said the non-aligned movement remained relevant even today.
“Non-alignment has been the bedrock of India's foreign policy since it was enunciated by Jawaharlal Nehru. Non-alignment remains an article of faith for us,” said Singh.
He also said, "In the post-cold war era, when the world is no longer divided into the two military blocs, the non-aligned movement has a renewed role to play in the emerging world order.”
The Indian premier said diversity and universality of non-aligned movement offers Nam a unique opportunity to address the challenges of today.
He gave assurance that India would play its part helping Nam to regain its moral high ground to address issues like sustainable development, climate change, food security, energy security, terrorism and reform of the architecture of international governance, which directly concern and have relevance to the developing countries.
Nam now comprises 118 member countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Egypt is one of the founders of the movement.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to return here on July 18.
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