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Prime Minister Tarique Rahman joins the opening session of the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the General Assembly Hall of the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Tuesday joined the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York as Bangladesh’s head of government, beginning a series of engagements with world leaders and representatives of international organisations during his maiden participation at the UN.
Tarique Rahman attended the opening ceremony of the 81st UNGA at the United Nations Headquarters at 9am local time, accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman.
Upon his arrival at the assembly venue, the prime minister was formally welcomed before joining world leaders in high-level discussions at the global forum.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs-1 Humaiun Kobir, State Minister for Foreign Affairs-2 Shama Obaed Islam, Prime Minister’s Adviser and PMO Spokesperson Mahdi Amin, and Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Irene Zubaida Khan were also with him.
At the opening ceremony, chaired by UN General Assembly President and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a speech.
Earlier in the morning, the prime minister and his wife joined a welcome breakfast hosted by the UN secretary-general for world leaders and their spouses attending the 81st UN General Assembly.
The prime minister and his spouse exchanged greetings with the UN secretary-general and joined other world leaders for a photo session at the start of the breakfast. The events marked the beginning of the prime minister’s official engagements at the United Nations during his visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session.
On the sidelines of the UNGA, Tarique Rahman sat for separate bilateral meetings with Maldives Vice-President Hussain Mohamed Latheef and Bhutanese Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay on the day.
He was also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé on Tuesday.
Tarique Rahman was also scheduled to hold a series of courtesy meetings during the day.
The meetings were scheduled with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar Julie Bishop, European Council President António Costa, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Meta Platforms Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan.
The prime minister was also scheduled to attend a reception hosted by US President Donald Trump on the occasion of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in the evening.
Today’s engagements
On the second day of his official participation in the UNGA, the prime minister will attend a breakfast meeting with representatives of international charitable and humanitarian organisations at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh at 8:30am today.
Representatives of the Gates Foundation, Visa Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Beast Philanthropy, Rotary International, CIMMYT, UPS Foundation, IKEA Foundation, GEDI, Infosys Foundation, UN Museum Live, Bayer Foundation, Zayed Sustainability Prize, Northwell Health and other organisations are expected to attend.
One of Tarique Rahman’s key engagements of the day will be a high-level side event on the Rohingya crisis titled “The Rohingya Crisis: A Renewed Call for a Durable Solution from Protracted Displacement, with Justice and Accountability” at the UN Headquarters.
The prime minister will also hold a bilateral meeting with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković at the UN Headquarters.
Another key engagement will be his participation in the high-level meeting on climate action and a just transition, titled “Climate Action and the Just Transition”, at the Trusteeship Council of the UN Headquarters in the afternoon.
He will then hold a courtesy meeting with Boeing Global President Dr Brendan Nelson at the Hyatt Grand Central New York, followed by an agreement-signing ceremony in the presence of Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat.
Following the signing ceremony, the prime minister is expected to hold a possible meeting with the head of the Boeing delegation.