Photo: Collected
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has reached Istanbul, Turkiye, on his way to 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 his entourage landed at Istanbul Airport at 10:55am local time.
The prime minister’s Press Secretary Saleh Shibly gave this information to BSS.
Earlier, the aircraft carrying the prime minister left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 6:05am Bangladesh time.
After a stopover of two hours and 35 minutes in Istanbul, the flight will leave for New York at 2:10pm Turkiye time and land at John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport at 5:55pm New York time.
Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Irene Zubaida Khan and Bangladesh’s Ambassador to the United States Tareq Md Ariful Islam will receive the prime minister at the airport.
From there, the prime minister will be taken in a motorcade to the ‘Hyatt Grand Central New York’ hotel. He will stay at that hotel during the visit.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam had said at a press conference in Dhaka that the prime minister would begin his formal programme from 22 September after reaching New York. That morning he will join the welcome breakfast hosted by the UN secretary-general for heads of state and government, and then take part in the opening ceremony of the session with other world leaders. In the evening he will be present at the reception hosted by the US president in honour of heads of state and government and their spouses.
On 23 September, the prime minister will exchange views at a breakfast meeting with representatives of international charitable and humanitarian organisations. He will then speak at a meeting on tackling the global inequality crisis, hosted by Brazil, South Africa, Norway and Spain. In the afternoon he will join the high-level meeting titled ‘Climate Action and the Just Transition’, organised at the initiative of the UN secretary-general.
On 24 September, he will deliver the opening remarks at the high-level meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise, at the invitation of the president of the session and Bangladesh’s foreign minister. There, as a climate-vulnerable country, he will present Bangladesh’s strong position on the questions of climate finance, adaptation, technology transfer, loss and damage and climate justice.
The prime minister is expected to deliver his address in the general debate of the General Assembly on the same afternoon.
In addition, the prime minister will take part in two important side events hosted by Bangladesh. At the side event on the Rohingya crisis on 23 September, he will seek the effective cooperation of the international community to send the Rohingyas back to Myanmar as quickly as possible.
On 24 September, he will speak as chief guest at another side event on maternal and newborn health and midwifery. There he will present the new government’s initiatives and future plans for protecting the health of mothers and children and stress the need for skilled and trained midwifery services.
On the sidelines of the conference, the prime minister will hold bilateral meetings with the top leaders of several countries. These include meetings with the crown prince of Kuwait and the prime ministers of Croatia, Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan and Haiti. Political and economic relations, trade and investment, development cooperation and various issues of mutual interest, including the Rohingya crisis, are expected to come up for discussion at these meetings.
Alongside this, the prime minister is scheduled to meet the UN secretary-general, the president of the European Council, the president of the World Bank Group, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the president of the International Peace Institute.
As part of economic diplomacy, he will also hold meetings with top representatives of Wall Street, Meta and several other business enterprises. These discussions will give importance to Bangladesh’s favourable investment climate, the potential of the manufacturing, infrastructure and technology sectors, skills and human resource development and the creation of quality employment for young people.
The prime minister is scheduled to leave JFK International Airport for Dhaka on an Emirates Airlines flight at 11:00pm New York time on 25 September.
This is Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s first participation in the highest global forum of the United Nations. Through this, an opportunity will be created to present before the world the new government’s political commitment and the outline of the future Bangladesh.
