PM reaches Hungary
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Hungary on Sunday afternoon on a four-day bilateral visit in conjunction with Budapest Water Summit 2016 at the invitation of Hungarian President Dr Janos Ader.
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest at 6.15 local time.
Hungarian Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation Istvan Mikola, Bangladesh Ambassador to Hungary M Abu Zafar, Hungarian Ambassador in Dhaka Gyula Petho and Chief of Protocol of Hungary Istvan Manno received the premier at the airport.
The prime minister was given a static guard of honour by the Hungarian armed forces after arrival at the airport.
The special VVIP flight (BG 1011) ‘Ranga Pravat’ carrying the premier and 99 passengers including her entourage, four cockpit crew, 20 cabin crew and four aircraft engineers was scheduled to land in Budapest at 1.45 pm.
But the flight was delayed by over four hours after it made an unscheduled stopover at Ashgabat International Airport in Turkmenistan due to ‘technical fault’, a Biman press release in Dhaka said.
‘Later the flight left Ashgabat for Budapest at 6.37 pm Bangladesh time after on-duty engineers repaired the glitch in the Turkmenistan capital,’ the release said.
The deputy speaker of Turkmenistan and chairman of Parliamentary Women Affairs Committee made a courtesy call on Sheikh Hasina at the VVIP lounge during her stopover at the Ashgabat International Airport
PM`s press secretary Ihsanul Karim said during the meeting they discussed informally bilateral matters including the issues of trade and business.
Meanwhile, Indian Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari, who was at the airport at that time, made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Indian Ambassador to Turkmenistan was present on the occasion.
From Liszt International Airport in Budapest, a ceremonial motorcade escorted the prime minister to Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace where she will be staying during the visit.
During the visit to the East European nation, Sheikh Hasina will take part in different sessions of the two-day Budapest Water Summit (BWS-2916) and hold a bilateral meeting with her Hungarian counterpart Victor Orban.
She is also expected to inaugurate Bangladesh-Hungarian Business and Economic Forum and make a call on President Janos Ader.
Sheikh Hasina, a member of High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) of the UN and the World Bank, would attend the inaugural session of the Water Summit on Monday.
Along with the Hungarian President and other dignitaries, she will visit a Sustainable Water Solution Expo.
On the next day, she will attend a high-level meeting of the summit and a working lunch to be hosted by President Janos Ader.
She will hold bilateral talks with her Hungarian counterpart on Tuesday morning at Kossuth Square and the meeting is expected to be followed by the signing ceremony of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs).
The two prime ministers will address a joint press conference after the bilateral talks.
The MoUs will be on consultation between the foreign ministries of the two countries, cooperation on water management and agriculture. A MoU will be signed between FBCCI and Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Sheikh Hasina will meet with Hungarian President Janos Ader at Sandor Presidential Palace Monday afternoon.
She will visit Heroes` Square at Budapest Tuesday to pay tributes to the Hungarian national heroes and soldiers who embraced martyrdom for establishment of the country.
The premier will leave Budapest for home Wednesday morning and is expected to reach Dhaka at 11.30 pm (BST).
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, Water Resources Minister Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud and Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali are accompanying the prime minister during her visit to Hungary.
A business delegation led by FBCCI president Abdul Matlub Ahmed is also visiting Hungary with Sheikh Hasina.
Source: BSS
