PM flies for New York to join 73rd UNGA

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka for New York this morning (Friday) to take part in the 73rd General Assembly of the United Nations.

She will make a stopover in London until Sunday en route to New York.

The premier flew to London by a special VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport this morning.

She will leave London for New York by a flight of British Airways on Sunday morning.

Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to join a civic reception at Hotel New York Hilton Midtown in New York on Sunday evening.

She is expected to present fresh specific proposals over the Rohingya crisis at different events of the UNGA.

With a view to persuading the global community to play stronger roles in resolving the Rohingya crisis, Sheikh Hasina will put forward the proposals in line with her last year’s five-point proposals, said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.

In continuation to the five-point proposal that the prime minister presented last year, she will place some new specific proposals this time, he said.

The premier will address the debate session of the UNGA in Bangla on September 27, he said.

In her speech, Sheikh Hasina will also shed light on different current issues, including global peace, safe migration and rights of the Palestinian people and successes of Bangladesh in different sectors.

On the same day, the prime minister will also hold a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sideline of the UNGA.

During her visit to the US, the prime minister will receive two international awards by Inter-Press Service and Global Hope for her contributions to sheltering Rohingyas and conducting peaceful diplomacy for permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis, the foreign minister added.

Fifty delegates, including the foreign minister, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, PM’s Adviser on Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, will accompany the prime minister during the visit.

Besides, a 200-member business delegation will accompany the prime minister during her visit, the foreign ministry said.

Sheikh Hasina is also scheduled to attend several programmes on the sidelines of the UNGA during her stay in New York.

The premier will join the High-level Event on Global Call to Action on World Drug Problem organised by the Permanent Mission of the United States at the UN headquarters on Monday.

She will later join the High-level Event on the ‘Global Compact on Refugees: A Model for Greater Solidarity and Cooperation.

Sheikh Hasina will hold a meeting with her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte at the Bilateral Meeting Booth, UNHQ.

The premier will attend a Luncheon Roundtable Meeting to be organised by the US Chamber of Commerce at Hotel Grant Hyatt New York.

Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to return home on October 1 via London.

Source: dailysun