A red carpet was rolled out as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday arrived in New Delhi to attend the G20 summit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the prime minister and her entourage members, landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport at 12:40pm local time (1:10pm Bangladesh time).
Earlier, the flight took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the morning. Bangabandhu's youngest daughter Sheikh Rehana is accompanying her elder sister Sheikh Hasina during the visit.
The prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with her Indian counterpart from 5:30pm to 7pm on Friday.
Several important 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 prime minister will address two sessions of the G20 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.
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, fertilisers 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 prime minister is expected to meet four to five other visiting leaders on Saturday, Momen said.
There is a possibility of (holding bilateral) meetings with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Argentinian President Alberto Angel Fernandez, the UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said.
India, being the president of G20, invited nine countries, including Bangladesh, as guests to the summit, which is going to be held in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday. The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union.
On Sunday, the prime minister will return home in the afternoon, leaving New Delhi by a chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 12:30pm.
