Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has left Dhaka for New York to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
A Turkish Airlines flight carrying the Prime Minister, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and other members of his entourage departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 6:05am, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary AAM Saleh Shibly told BSS.
The Prime Minister is leading a 26-member delegation and is scheduled to address the UNGA session on September 24, said his Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Ruman.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, BNP Acting Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani and PM’s Principal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar were present at the airport to see him off.
The flight is scheduled to reach Istanbul at 11:35am local time after a journey of around eight hours and 45 minutes. It will leave Istanbul at 2:10pm and arrive at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York at 5:55pm after a two-hour-and-35-minute stopover.
On arrival, the Prime Minister will be received by Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Irene Zubaida Khan and Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Tareq Md Ariful Islam. He will then be escorted to Hyatt Grand Central New York.
During the visit, Tarique Rahman will attend a welcome breakfast hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for heads of state and government on September 22. He will also attend the opening session and a reception hosted by the US president for world leaders and their spouses.
On September 23, the Prime Minister will meet representatives of international charitable and humanitarian organisations and attend a high-level meeting on the global inequality crisis.
He will also participate in a meeting on climate action and a side event on the Rohingya crisis, where he will seek stronger international cooperation for the early repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.
At climate-related meetings, Tarique Rahman is expected to highlight Bangladesh’s position as a climate-vulnerable country, focusing on climate finance, adaptation, technology transfer, loss and damage and climate justice.
On September 24, he will deliver opening remarks at a high-level meeting on the threats posed by sea-level rise and attend two Bangladesh-hosted side events.
He will also address a side event on maternal and newborn health and midwifery, highlighting government initiatives and future plans in these areas and stressing the importance of skilled midwives.
On the sidelines of the UNGA, the Prime Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the Crown Prince of Kuwait and the prime ministers of Croatia, Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan and Haiti.
The meetings are expected to cover political and economic relations, trade and investment, development cooperation, the Rohingya crisis and other issues of mutual interest.
Tarique Rahman is also scheduled to meet the UN Secretary-General, President of the European Council, President of the World Bank Group, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar and the UN high commissioners for refugees and human rights.
As part of the government’s economic diplomacy, he will also meet senior representatives of Meta, Wall Street and other business organisations.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to leave New York for Dhaka from JFK International Airport at 11:00pm on September 25 by Emirates flight EK202.
