Dhaka – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left here on Wednesday for London on a 12-day visit to Canada and the USA to attend the 5th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Montreal and the 71st UN General Assembly session in New York, UNB news agency reported.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:35 am.Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Public Administration Affairs Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Information Minister Hasnul Haq Inu, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Chief Whip ASM Firoz and PM’s Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury saw the Prime Minister off at the airport. Principal Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and the chiefs of the three services were present.
The flight is expected to reach Heathrow International Airport in the UK at 04:05 pm at London (local time) today.
Sheikh Hasina will first pay a four-day official visit to Canada to attend the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund (GF) in her first leg of the tour and then she will go to the USA to join the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Canada hosts the GF’s Replenishment Conference to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Montreal, Quebec, on September 16-17.
A GF statement earlier said the conference will bring global health leaders together to further mobilise efforts to end the epidemics of three of the world’s most devastating diseases – AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria – by 2030.
The Prime Minister will leave for Montreal by Air Canada at 2.05 pm (Local time) on September 15.
The flight is scheduled to reach Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Montreal at 4.15 pm (Local time) the same day when the Bangladesh leader would be received by a Canadian Federal Minister and Bangladesh High Commissioner in Ottawa Mizanur Rahman.
On September 16, she will attend the opening of the Replenishment Conference to be held at Hyatt Regency Montreal.
She will later join the Ministerial Pledging Moment and official reception of the conference with other heads of state and government at the same hotel in the afternoon.
Hasina would also attend the official dinner to be hosted by her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau at Hyatt Regency Montreal.
On September 7, she would join the opening of the day two of the conference along with the Canadian PM and Global Fund Executive Director Mark Dybal.
On the same day, she will attend the Panel Discussion-1 titled ‘Removing Barriers to Health through Empowering Women and Girls and Reaching the Most Marginalised’ and the Panel Discussion 2 titled ‘Engaging and Mobilising Youth to meet the Sustainable Development Goals’.
The Prime Minister will join the official lunch to be hosted jointly by the Canadian Prime Minister and Governor General of Canada Rt. Hon. David Johnston.
She will later attend the closing session of the conference. The Bangladesh Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Trudeau. She will also enjoy a concert along with other heads of state and government to be organized by Global Fund and Global Citizen.
On September 18, Sheikh Hasina will leave Montreal for New York by an Air Canada flight at 1.40 pm (Local time).
The flight is scheduled to reach La Guardia Airport, New York at 3 pm (Local time).
Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Mohammad Ziauddin and Bangladesh Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Masud Bin Momen will welcome her at the airport.
