PM Hasina departs for New Delhi to attend G-20 summit

The Report Desk

Published: September 8, 2023, 11:16 AM

PM Hasina departs for New Delhi to attend G-20 summit

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday left Dhaka for the G-20 summit in New Delhi at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, reports agencies. 

A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the premier and her entourage, took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:00am.

The flight is scheduled to land at Palam Airport, New Delhi at 1:15pm local time (1:45pm BD time).

Hours into her arrival in New Delhi PM Hasina will hold a bilateral meeting with Modi on Friday evening.

She is scheduled to arrive at the Indian PM‍‍`s residence for the meeting from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

Several important bilateral issues are expected to be discussed in the meeting, said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen while briefing reporters on Thursday.

“Three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) --on cooperation in agriculture research, cultural exchange programmes, easing transactions between BDT and Indian Rupee (the common people of the two countries)-- are expected to be signed before the bilateral meeting,” he said.

During her three-day visit the Bangladesh PM will address two sessions of the G-20 Leaders’ Summit, which is going to be kicked off at Bharat Mandapam Centre, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi with the theme of ‘One Earth, One Family and One Future’ on Saturday (September 9).

She will focus on different challenges like climate change in the global south, post-Covid-19 economic recovery, and disruption of the global supply of fuel, food and fertilizers and other essential commodities due to the ongoing war in Europe. She will also raise the experience of Bangladesh‍‍`s incredible success in various socio-economic fields to the world leaders participating in the conference.

On the sidelines of the summit, the premier is expected to meet four to five other visiting leaders on Saturday, said Momen.

There is a possibility of (holding bilateral) meetings with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Argentinian President Alberto Angel Fernandez, UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said.

India, being the president of G-20, invited nine countries including Bangladesh to the  summit as guests, which are being held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union.

On September 10 (Sunday), the prime minister will return home in the afternoon, leaving New Delhi by a chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 12:30pm.

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