PM off to New York
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka for the US yesterday morning to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with a scheduled stopover in Finland.
A VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the PM took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Finnish capital Helsinki at 9:10am.
The flight reached Helsinki at 3:37pm (local time) yesterday. Ambassador of Bangladesh in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam received the PM at Vantaa International Airport, Helsinki.
This is Hasina's first foreign trip since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh in March last year. She will attend the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of the government and will address the General Debate on September 24.
Tomorrow, Hasina will leave Helsinki for New York by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 3:00pm (local time). The flight is scheduled to land at John F Kennedy International Airport, New York, at 6:00pm (local time).
She will stay at Hotel Lotte Palace during her stay in New York from September 19 to 25 as part of her official visit to attend the UNGA and a number of high-level events there.
The premier will also hold talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. She is likely to return home on October 1.
On Monday, Hasina will attend a closed-door meeting on climate change at the UN Headquarters, plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens in honour of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary, and lay a floral wreath at the Peace Memorial on the North Lawn of UNHQ.
She will sit in two bilateral meetings with EU Council President Charles Michel and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. Besides, she will join a virtual event of Sustainable Development Solution Network.
On Tuesday, the PM will attend the opening session of the UNGA General Debate, sit in a bilateral meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the afternoon and join Business Roundtable by US-Bangladesh Business Council.
Hasina on Wednesday will virtually attend three events -- the high-level meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, White House Global Covid-19 Summit and a high-level event on Rohingya crisis.
On Thursday, the Bangladesh PM will send her prerecorded statements to two events. She will sit in four bilateral meetings with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at the place of residence, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at the UNHQ.
The Bangladesh prime minister on Friday will address the UNGA 76th general debate in the morning, sit in a bilateral meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at UNHQ, and join a community programme virtually.
On September 25, Hasina will depart New York for Washington DC by a Biman flight. She will stay in Washington DC from September 25 to 30.
The PM is scheduled to leave Washington DC for Dhaka on September 30. She is expected to return home on October 1 after a short stopover in Finland.
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