Prime Minister Tarique Rahman Returns Home After Five-Day US Visit

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman returned home on Sunday (September 27) after a five-day visit to the United States. He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:40am. His wife, Dr. Zubaida Rahman, and other members of the delegation also returned with him.

Earlier, at 11:30pm local time on Saturday, the prime minister left John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for Dhaka on an Emirates flight via Dubai.

During the visit, the prime minister delivered his first-ever speech in Bangla at the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly. In his address on September 24, he highlighted Bangladesh’s priorities on global peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, humanitarian crises, economic cooperation and the Rohingya crisis.

He reaffirmed Bangladesh’s support for UN initiatives to promote global peace and humanity and stressed dialogue, diplomacy and mutual cooperation as the means of resolving conflicts. He also pledged to build a prosperous, self-reliant and welfare-oriented democratic Bangladesh by ensuring political and economic empowerment of the people and equal opportunities for all. In this regard, he outlined the government’s “Recovery, Restoration and Reconstruction”, or Three-R, strategy.

On the Rohingya crisis, the prime minister said safe and dignified repatriation is the only lasting solution. He called for stronger support from the international community to create conditions conducive to voluntary repatriation.

During his New York visit, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held separate meetings with UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar Julie Bishop and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Saleh.

He also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with discussions focusing on expanding Bangladesh-Turkey trade and investment and exploring new areas of economic cooperation. He held separate meetings with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Maldivian Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.

At the beginning of his visit on September 22, the prime minister and his wife attended a welcome breakfast hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for world leaders and their spouses. They also attended a reception hosted by the US president for leaders participating in the UN General Assembly.

Ashik/M.