Hasina arrives in US to join 73rd UN General Assembly

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reached the US via the UK to join the 73rd United Nations General Assembly.

New York Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 Sept 2018, 10:55 PM
Updated : 23 Sept 2018, 11:07 PM

Bangladesh's Permanent Representative at the UN Masud Bin Momen and Ambassador Mohammad Ziauddin received her after she arrived in Newark Liberty International Airport by a British Airways flight on Sunday afternoon local time.

Expatriate leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League gathered outside the airport to welcome their party chief while their rival BNP activists demonstrated against her.

Police drove the two sides away after a tense stamf-off.

The prime minister is staying at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel during the trip. She was scheduled to join a reception by expatriate Bangladeshis later in the evening.

Hasina left Dhaka and reached London on Friday and made a day's stopover there.

Besides attending the UNGA, she will join different other programmes during the 10-day trip.

She is expected to present Bangladesh's proposals to end the Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh has given shelter to over 700,000 Myanmar nationals who fled ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State since Aug 25 last year to join around 400,000 refugees already living in Bangladesh.

Hasina is expected to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and some other world leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA.

The theme of this year’s UN summit is “making the UN relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”.

The prime minister is leading a 50-strong Bangladesh delegation and a 200-member business team is also with her.

The prime minister had placed five proposals during the last UN summit.

One of that was the implementation of the Kofi Annan commission report which was agreed upon by all, including Myanmar’s allies in the UN Security Council -- China and Russia.

During her speech to the General Assembly on Sep 27, she will make some specific recommendations in line with the previous proposals.

She will receive two awards in New York for her role in handling the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Among the top level meetings, the prime minister will attend the ‘global call of action on drug problem’, to be hosted by US President Donald Trump, on Monday.

Hasina will also join a reception to be hosted by Trump in honour of the world leaders.

Hasina will attend the high-level event on the global compact on refugees, Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, high-level event on international finance for education, and leaders’ dialogue hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She is also scheduled to meet the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte before joining a roundtable by the US Chamber of Commerce.

On Tuesday, she will join high-level events on action for peacekeeping and cyber security where she will be joined by her son and ICT affairs adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy.

She will attend a luncheon to be hosted by the UN chief before joining a meeting on peacekeeping.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H Fore, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini are scheduled to call on the prime minister at the UN Headquarters on Wednesday.

She will hold a bilateral meeting with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. She will also meet World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab and Estonia President Kersti Kaljulaid.

On Thursday, she will join a high-level meeting on the Rohingya situation to be organised by Saudi Arabia’s permanent mission and the OIC Secretariat

She will meet Guterres at the UN in the afternoon. Hasina will also meet International Committee of the Red Cross President Peter Maurer and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Before delivering her speech at the UNGA in the evening, she will attend a discussion on women empowerment to be hosted by Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaitė and a reception by Inter Press Services at the UN Headquarters.

She is scheduled to join the annual dinner of the Global Hope Coalition later.

She will return home on Oct 1 after a  two-day stopover in London.