PM flies for London

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday left Dhaka for a two-nation tour of North America.

In the first leg, she will visit Canada and then the United States during the 11-day official visit.

A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and other members of her entourage took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HISA) for London at 10.30am.

On her way to Canada and the USA, the prime minister would make a 22-hour stopover in London.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Minister for Public Administration Syed Ashraful Islam, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, PM’s Media Advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Chief Whip ASM Firoz, chiefs of the three services, IGP, dean of diplomatic corps and senior officials saw the prime minister off at the airport.

The prime minister will be visiting Canada from Sept 15-18 to attend the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund (GF) at the invitation of her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

GF’s Replenishment Conference will be held in Montreal, Qu‚bec on September 16-17 to further mobilize efforts to end the world’s most epidemic devastating diseases - AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria- by 2030.

In the second leg, Sheikh Hasina will visit the USA from Sept 18-25 to join the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to a news agency.

The Bangladesh Biman flight, carrying the prime minister, is scheduled to reach Heathrow International Airport at 4.05pm (London time) today and after the 22-hour stopover in London the premier would leave for the Montreal by an Air Canada flight tomorrow.