PM Hasina leaves Japan for Bangladesh after G7 Outreach Meeting

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on her way back home after a four-day visit to Japan, where she took part in the G7 Outreach Meeting.

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft carrying the prime minister and her entourage left Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at 7pm local time on Sunday.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Rabab Fatima and Japan’s Head of Protocol Kaoru Shimajaki bade Sheikh Hasina farewell at the airport.

The prime minister arrived in Nagoya on Thursday and attended the G7 event at Ise-Shima on Friday.

Sheikh Hasina's sister Sheikh Rehana, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, and a delegation of 30 businessmen led by FBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad accompanied the prime minister.

During her visit, Sheikh Hasina held bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

She also inaugurated the Bangladesh embassy’s new chancery complex in Tokyo.

Apart from Bangladesh, the leaders of Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Chad as well as the African Union chairperson were invited to the Outreach Meeting.

The Group of Seven (G7) platform comprises the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.

Its members meet annually to discuss such issues as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.

Besides the annual summit of G7 leaders, a meeting with other countries, known as the G7 Outreach, from outside the group is also held.