Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reached New York in the USA to attend the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
"A VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG-1902) carrying the prime minister and her entourage members arrived at 5:40 pm (local time) on Sunday at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York," Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told BSS.
This is her maiden foreign tour after one and a half years since she visited Italy in February, 2020.
Bangladesh Ambassador to USA M Shahidul Islam and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to United Nations (UN) Ambassador Rabab Fatima received the prime minister at the airport, he said.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, among others, are accompanying her.
A ceremonial motorcade later escorted her to Lotte New York Palace where she will be staying during her visit to the USA.
After a two-day stopover in Helsinki, the prime minister left the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport for New York at 4:16 pm (the Finish capital time).
Earlier, on September 17, prime minister Sheikh Hasina reached Helsinki en route to New York, USA to attend the 76th UNGA.
The prime minister and her entourage members departed from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), Dhaka for Helsinki at 9:23 am on the same day.
En route to New York, she made the two-day stopover at Helsinki.
The prime minister will stay in New York till September 24 as part of an official visit to attend the UNGA and a number of high-level events there.
During her stay in New York, Sheikh Hasina will address the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters on September 24.
She will present her address in Bangla like the previous years following the footprint of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who had delivered his historic speech at the UN in Bangla in 1974.
On September 20, Sheikh Hasina will attend a closed-door meeting with a group of heads of state or government on climate change to be convened by the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Later, she will plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens in North Lawn of the UN Headquarters in honour of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.
In the afternoon, the prime minister is scheduled to join a virtual programme titled "Sustainable Development Solutions Network".
On September 21, Sheikh Hasina will join the General Debate's opening session at the UN Headquarters, while she will also attend the 'Business Roundtable: US-Bangladesh Business Council' to be organized by Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA.
On September 22, the prime minister will join a high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
She will also participate in the 'White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better' and is scheduled to deliver a speech at the event.
In the afternoon on that day, Sheikh Hasina will attend a high-level side event on 'Rohingya crisis: Imperatives for a sustainable solution' and is expected to deliver a pre-recorded speech there.
On September 23, the prime minister will attend an 'Event of Leaders' network on 'Delivering on the UN Common Agenda: Action to Achieve Equality and Inclusion' to be organised by the Swedish Mission to the UN.
She will also join the Food Systems Summit as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030 to be convened by the UN Secretary-General at the UN Headquarters.
On the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, Sheikh Hasina will hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders.
They include Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley Q.C., Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and President of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phyc.
Besides, she will hold bilateral talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of EU Council Charles Michel.
The prime minister is scheduled to visit Washington D.C. during September 25-30 after her participation in the UNGA session and other events in New York.
After wrapping up her USA visit, Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Washington for Dhaka on September 30 and will return home on October 1 following a stopover in Helsinki.
