Dr. Yunus to hold bilateral meeting with Biden at New York

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh‍‍`s interim government, is set to hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This is a rare occurrence, as no meeting between the two nations has occurred in the past three decades.

A policymaking source from the interim government confirmed the news, stating that if all goes according to plan, the meeting will occur at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 24 September. High-level sources from both Dhaka and New York also revealed that the U.S. finalized the meeting on Thursday, prompting Dr. Yunus to travel to New York on 23 September, a day earlier than initially planned.

Five diplomats with experience in New York noted that a bilateral meeting between the U.S. president and another world leader during the UNGA is quite uncommon. Typically, the U.S. president arrives in New York on the morning of his scheduled UNGA speech and then hosts a reception for attending heads of state and government in the afternoon. A meeting like the one planned between Biden and Yunus is infrequent for Bangladesh, as previous Bangladeshi leaders have only met the U.S. president at the reception.

Senior diplomats emphasized the significance of this meeting, particularly in light of a high-level U.S. delegation visiting Dhaka on 15 September, shortly after the interim government assumed power. Within two weeks of that visit, President Biden’s decision to meet Dr. Yunus suggests that the U.S. will likely extend substantial support to Bangladesh during this political transition.

This will be Dr. Yunus‍‍` first foreign trip since taking office on 8 August. In addition to meeting President Biden, he is also scheduled to hold talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Analysts believe these meetings are critical for Bangladesh, signaling strong cooperation from Western nations and international financial institutions for the interim government.