Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has returned to Dhaka after attending the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday morning at 9:00 am on an Emirates Airlines flight, his press wing confirmed.
Earlier, Dr. Yunus departed New York at 9:10 am (Bangladesh time) on Wednesday. Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Muhammad Abdul Muhith, and Bangladesh Ambassador to the US, Tariq Md. Ariful Islam, saw him off at John F. Kennedy Airport.
This year, six political leaders accompanied the Chief Adviser, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP’s acting chairman’s foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, National Citizen’s Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, and Joint Convener Dr. Tasnim Jara. Jamaat leader Naqibur Rahman Tarek joined the delegation from the US.
On September 26, Yunus addressed the UNGA, highlighting the interim government’s reform initiatives, the aspirations of the July 2024 mass uprising, the pledge to hold free and fair elections in February 2026, justice for the July killings, and the Rohingya crisis.
He also spoke at the high-level conference on “The Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar,” reiterating that peaceful repatriation to Myanmar is the only solution to the crisis, while presenting a seven-point proposal.
During his stay, Dr. Yunus met several world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Albanian President Bajram Begaj, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
He also held meetings with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Bank President Ajay Banga, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Club de Madrid President and former Slovenian President Danilo Türk, as well as Sergio Gor, the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia and Ambassador-designate to India.
Additionally, Dr. Yunus received the “Unlock Big Change Award” at the annual Global Education Dinner hosted by Theirworld.
