Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has arrived in New York to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), with Bangladeshi expatriates and BNP leaders and activists organising various programmes to welcome him.
A Turkish Airlines flight carrying the Prime Minister, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and members of his entourage landed at John F Kennedy International Airport at 6:20pm New York time after a stopover in Istanbul, Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Jahidul Islam Rony told BSS.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York Irene Zubaida Khan and Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Tareq Md Ariful Islam received the Prime Minister at the airport.
A motorcade then escorted him to the Hyatt Grand Central New York, where he will stay during his visit.
BNP leaders and activists and members of the Bangladeshi expatriate community gathered outside the airport and along the roads leading to the hotel with banners, posters and festoons. They also chanted slogans welcoming the Prime Minister.
As his motorcade passed through the streets, the Prime Minister waved back at the crowds. Jackson Heights, a major hub of the Bangladeshi community, was also decorated with banners, posters and festoons.
Tarique Rahman is scheduled to deliver his address to the UN General Assembly on September 24.
His official engagements will begin on September 22 with a welcome breakfast hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for heads of state and government and their spouses at UN headquarters.
He will then attend the opening session of the 81st UNGA and hold bilateral and courtesy meetings with several world leaders and senior international officials, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga.
The Prime Minister is also scheduled to meet Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop, European Council President António Costa, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Meta Platforms’ Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan.
In the evening, Tarique Rahman and his wife will attend a reception hosted by the US president for heads of state and government and their spouses.
On September 23, the Prime Minister will attend a breakfast meeting with representatives of international charitable and humanitarian organisations at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN.
He will later join a high-level side event on the Rohingya crisis and participate in the UN high-level meeting on “Climate Action and the Just Transition”.
He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Boeing Global President Dr Brendan Nelson will also meet the Prime Minister at his hotel, where a signing ceremony involving Bangladesh government representatives is scheduled.
On September 24, Tarique Rahman will attend a high-level meeting on the threats posed by sea-level rise and deliver the opening remarks.
He will also meet Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and deliver the opening remarks at a high-level event on integrating midwifery into primary healthcare to prevent maternal and newborn deaths.
The Prime Minister will meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul before attending the general debate of the 81st UNGA.
He is scheduled to deliver his UNGA address at around 5:30pm New York time, subject to change, with an allotted speaking time of 15 minutes.
Following the address, the Prime Minister will attend a dinner hosted in his honour by Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission.
On September 25, he will attend a breakfast meeting with Wall Street representatives hosted by JPMorgan at its Manhattan headquarters.
He will then hold a bilateral meeting with Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and attend a lunch meeting with Prince Zeid Al Hussein, President of the International Peace Institute.
Before leaving New York, the Prime Minister will meet BNP leaders in the United States. He is scheduled to depart for Dhaka at 11:00pm on September 25 by Emirates flight EK202 via Dubai and arrive in Dhaka on September 27.
