Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left Washington for London to attend the coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla as the king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.
Wrapping up her six-day visit to the US, Sheikh Hasina departed Dulles International Airport in Washington on a United Airlines flight at 11:30am local time (9:30pm Bangladesh time), PM’s Assistant Press Secretary Emrul Kayas confirmed.
The younger daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Hasina’s only sister, Sheikh Rehana, is accompanying the prime minister.
The flight is scheduled to land at Heathrow International Airport in London at midnight local time (5am Bangladesh time), reports UNB.
During her stay in London, she will also attend a program of Commonwealth leaders, an event arranged by Cambridge University, and a civic reception.
During her visit to the US, the prime minister attended a program marking 50 years of Bangladesh-World Bank partnership and several side events, including a roundtable with US business leaders, and several meetings with the global lender’s then-incoming president Ajay Banga and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva alongside a civic reception.
She arrived in Washington DC on April 28 wrapping up her four-day official trip to Tokyo, Japan, at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida.
Earlier on April 24, a special chartered VVIP flight (BG1403) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage landed at Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, at 4:45pm (local time).
Japan rolled out a red carpet to welcome the Bangladesh prime minister and gave her a state guard of honour at the airport.
During her visit to Japan, she signed eight instruments on agriculture, metro rail, industrial upgrade, ship recycling, customs matters, intellectual properties, defence cooperation, ICT and cyber security cooperation.
On April 26, Sheikh Hasina paid a courtesy call on the Emperor of Japan Naruhito. The same day, she held a bilateral meeting with Fumio Kishida after the signing of the deals.
The premier also attended an investment summit and a community reception alongside handing over the Friends of Liberation War Honour to four Japanese nationals on April 27 for their contribution to Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.
The prime minister also attended several additional bilateral meetings with Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi as well as leaders of JICA, JETRO, JEBIC, JBPFL and JBCCEC.
She also had meetings with the late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, and Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
The prime minister is scheduled to reach Dhaka from London on May 9.
