DHAKA, April 14, 2018 (BSS)-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves here
tomorrow on an eight-day official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
and the United Kingdom (UK).
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the prime minister and members
of her entourage will depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here for
Dammam in Saudi Arabia tomorrow afternoon.
The flight is scheduled to reach Dammam King Fahd International Airport at
7:05pm local time the same day.
In Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Hasina will join a parade and concluding ceremony
of a joint grand military exercise named “Gulf Shield-1” in the Eastern
Province of Al-Jubail on April 16.
She will attend the ceremony at the invitation of Saudi King and the
custodian of the two holy mosques Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.
Saudi Arabia has organised the month-long military exercise aimed at
further increasing security cooperation in the gulf region with the
participation of its 23 friendly countries.
An 18-member delegation of Bangladesh Armed Forces is participating in the
exercise that began on March 18.
Other countries participating in the military drill are the USA, the UK,
the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan,
Mauritania, Malaysia, Pakistan, Chad, Djibouti, Niger, Comoros, Afghanistan,
Oman, Guyana, Turkey, and Burkina Faso.
After attending the concluding ceremony of the Gulf Shield-1, the prime
minister will leave Dammam for London in the afternoon on April 16 by a
special flight to join the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
Summit.
The flight is scheduled to land at Heathrow International Airport in the
British capital at night the same day.
This year’s theme of the CHOGM Summit is – “Towards a Common Future”.
On April 17, the prime minister will attend the Commonwealth Women Forum as
a presenter at the session on “Educate to empower: making equitable and
quality primary education and secondary education a reality for girls across
the Commonwealth” in the morning at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre,
Westminster.
Sheikh Hasina will join a high-level programme to be organised by Overseas
Development Institute (ODI), a prestigious think tank of the UK, in the
afternoon.
She will be the keynote speaker on “Development Progress of Bangladesh:
Policy, Progress and Prospect” in the programme.
On April 18, Sheikh Hasina will attend the Asian leaders’ roundtable – ‘Can
Asia keep growing?’
The prime minister will join the Welcome Reception followed by a dinner to
be hosted by British Premier Theresa May in the afternoon.
On April 19, Sheikh Hasina will attend the formal opening of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and official welcome to be
hosted by the British premier.
She will join a reception to be hosted by Commonwealth Secretary General
Patricia Scotland QC and a presentation and reception followed by a dinner of
Queen Elizabeth II in honour of Heads of Government and spouse/partners at
the Buckingham Palace.
On April 20, the prime minister will attend three retreat sessions and the
closing executive session of the summit.
On April 21, she will attend reception for participating Commonwealth Heads
of Government and the Queen’s Birthday Party Concert to be organized by the
Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS).
The prime minister will join a community reception the same day.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will call on heads of government of different
countries on the sidelines of the summit. She will return home on April 23.