Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was accorded a warm reception here on Monday as she arrive at the Heathrow Airport on a three-day official visit to the United Kingdom to attend the first-ever Girl Summit and hold talks with her British counterpart David William Donald Cameroon.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister is visiting the UK at the invitation of her British counterpart David Cameron and Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying Sheikh Hasina and her entourage landed at Heathrow International Airport in London at about 3.30 pm (London time).
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK and Northern Ireland Mijarul Quayes, DFID International Affairs Director Anthony Smith and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Gibson received the Prime Minister. A bouquet was also presented to Sheikh Hasina.
After the warm welcome at the airport, the Prime Minister was taken to London Hilton Hotel in a ceremonial motorcade where she will be staying during her visit.
Hundreds of activists of the ruling Awami League and its affiliates in the UK gathered outside the terminal and also at the Hotel to greet their party president. Sheikh Rehena also accompanied the PM from Dhaka to London.
Earlier, she left Dhaka for London this morning by the VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 9:45 am (BST).
Cabinet members and civil and military high officials saw her off at the airport.
Sheikh Hasina is leading a 57-member Bangladesh delegation to the summit being hosted jointly by British government and Unicef. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki are, among others, in the Bangladesh delegation.
This is her first visit to any European country since winning the January-5 parliamentary elections to become the Prime Minister for the second consecutive term.
The Summit is aimed at mobilising domestic and international efforts to end female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage within a generation.
From there, the Prime Minister was taken to London Hilton on Park Lane in a ceremonial motorcade where she will be staying during her visit along with the delegation members.
Before joining the main session of the Girl Summit, Hasina will hold talks with her British counterpart David William Donald Cameroon on Tuesday at 10 Downing Street when the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral issues.
Hasina will then attend the high-level session of the Summit on Tuesday and interact with First Lady Chantal Compaore of Burkina Faso, a West African Country and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.
The session will be moderated by Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake at Walworth Academy.
Besides, after the high-level session, the Prime Minister will have a brief exchange with Anthony Lake and the British Prime Minister on the Girl Summit as well as attend a question-answer session of the British Prime Minister.
On July 22, Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake will meet Hasina at the bilateral conference room of Walworth Academy. DFID State Minister Desmond Swayne TD, MP will meet the PM also at the same venue.
Besides, British Shadow Foreign Minister Douglas Alexander and all-party parliamentary party members will meet the Premier at her place of residence on Tuesday afternoon before attending an Iftar mahfil and dinner at her hotel to be given in honour of her by expatriates Bangladeshis living in UK.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will give an interview to the BBC World Radio and the BBC Bangla before returning home on the afternoon of July 23.
Wrapping up her three-day tour, Hasina will leave London for home on Wednesday afternoon by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Bangladesh High Commissioner Mijarul Quayes and a representative from British government will see her off at the airport. She is expected to reach home on Thursday morning.
Source: UNB
