Dr Yunus to highlight new Bangladesh in his UNGA address on Sep 27

Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus will address the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on September 27.

He will arrive in New York on September 23 by a commercial flight for a five-day visit and will start for home on September 27, foreign affairs adviser Touhid Hossain told a press briefing on Saturday.

Responding to a question, he said that there will be no meeting between Dr Yunus and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the UNGA in New York.

The Indian PM will depart New York for home earlier and when the Chief Adviser will be in the UNGA, Mr Modi will not be there.

But foreign adviser Dr Touhid will have a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines.

“It cannot be denied that a tension is going on in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India,” the foreign affairs adviser said adding that a problem cannot be solved by denying its existence.

“Definitely we will try to erase this tension to ensure our relationship but that relationship must be based on dignity and mutual respect, and on this basis, we can move forward our bilateral ties,” the adviser said.

In his address, the chief adviser will highlight the student-led movement that took place in July and will express the government’s conviction to build a pro-people, welfare state system, aimed at serving the people, the foreign adviser said.

Besides issues related to climate change, Bangladesh’s role in peacekeeping, trafficking of wealth from the poor nations, safe migration, conflict resolution, and the Palestine situation will be featured in his address, he added.

The motto of this year’s UNGA is “Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for present and future generations.”

The adviser said that on the heels of ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world and incidents of human rights violations, the upcoming UNGA is very significant.

On the sideline of the UNGA, the chief adviser is scheduled to have bilateral meetings with the prime ministers of Pakistan, Nepal, and Netherlands and the US Secretary of State.

Discussions are going on regarding his bilateral meetings with the US President, President of Italy, and Crown Prince of Kuwait, the foreign adviser said adding that the Chinese foreign minister may meet the CA.

Bangladesh will also organise a side event on the Rohingya crisis on the sideline of the UNGA, the adviser said.

Foreign adviser will represent Bangladesh in the Summit of Future which will be held from September 22 to September 23.

This Summit will adopt a declaration titled the ‘Pact of Future,’

Mr Touhid will also attend the meetings of the foreign ministers of the OIC, LDCs, and Commonwealth countries on the sidelines of the UNGA.

The interim government has started the reform process to build a new Bangladesh, the foreign adviser said adding that the upcoming UNGA session will be a big opportunity to present the new Bangladesh, free of discrimination.

This time the number of the CA delegation is 57 which is much lower than previous delegations which were usually comprised of more than 100, Mr Touhid mentioned.

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