PM returns home after 15-day foreign visit

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has returned home after her 15-day foreign visit to Japan, the US and the UK.

A regular flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday morning.

Earlier, the flight departed Heathrow International Airport in London at 06.25pm on Monday (local time).

Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem saw the premier off at the airport.

On May 4, the prime minister arrived in London in the third leg of her tri-nation visit to attend the coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla as the King and the Queen of the United Kingdom (UK) and the other Commonwealth realms from Washington DC.

During her stay in the UK, Sheikh Hasina attended the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

In London, Sheikh Hasina had interaction with King Charles III, and a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

British Foreign Minister James Cleverly along with his wife Susannah Sparks also called on her at her place of residence, the Claridge Hotel in London.

The premier attended a dinner in honour of her hosted by Bangladesh high commissioner to the UK at the Foyer Private Dining Room of Claridge Hotel on the same day.

She had a meeting with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema there.

Besides, Sheikh Hasina had interactions with Presidents of Egypt and Rwanda, Prime Ministers of Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Gambia, Namibia and Uganda in the coronation programme of King Charles III.

Former Prime Minister of UK Tony Blair and Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland also met the Bangladesh prime minister at her place of residence on May 7.

The prime minister was accorded a civic reception by expatriate Bangladeshis in the UK at London Marriott Hotel on the same day and she also gave an interview to BBC.

Earlier, she arrived in Washington DC in the second leg of her three-nation visit on April 29 wrapping up her four-day official visit to Tokyo in Japan at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

During her visit to US, the prime minister attended a programme marking 50 years of Bangladesh-World Bank partnership and some side events that include a roundtable with US business leaders and several meetings with WB's incoming President Ajay Banga and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva alongside a civic reception.

Before that, on April 25, a special chartered VVIP flight (BG1403) of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members landed at the Haneda International Airport, Tokyo at 4:45pm (local time) in the first leg of her three-nation visit.

Japan had rolled out a red carpet to welcome the Bangladesh prime minister and gave her the 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 had a courtesy call on the Emperor of Japan Naruhito. Then on the same day, she held a bilateral meeting with her Japanese counterpart 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, as well, attended several additional bilateral meetings with Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi as well as leaders of JAICA, JETRO, JEBIC, JBPFL and JBCCEC.

She also had meetings with the former late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie Abe and Japanese architect Tadao Ando.