Red carpet rolled out as Bhutanese PM arrives

A red carpet was rolled out as Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering arrived in Dhaka this morning on a four-day official visit.

The Bhutanese prime minister is making the visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina aiming to bolster cooperation between the two countries in trade, inland waterways, health and agriculture sectors.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed her Bhutanese counterpart at the VVIP terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital when the special flight of Royal Bhutan Airlines landed at the airport with his entourage at 8:15am.

A child presented him a bouquet.

Accompanied by Bangladesh Prime MInister Sheikh Hasina, Lotay Tshering proceeded towards the makeshift “Saluting Dais”.

A smartly turned out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force gave a guard of honour and state salute to the Bhutanese premier.

The two heads of government took the salute. The national anthems of the two countries were played on the occasion.

After the ceremony, the Bhutanese prime minister was taken to the Intercontinental Hotel Dhaka in a ceremonial motorcade where he and his entourage will be staying during the visit.

Later in the day, he will pay tributes to the Liberation War martyrs at the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar and to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreaths at his portrait at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi.

On the first day, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will call on the Bhutanese premier at Hotel Intercontinental.

The Bhutanese PM is scheduled to hold a meeting with leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) later in the day.

He will also visit the Bhutanese embassy at Baridhara and Dharmarajika Buddhist Monastery Complex at Bashabo in the city.

On Saturday, the Bhutanese premier will attend a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

After the meeting, a number of bilateral instruments are expected to be signed by the two sides.

The bilateral instruments, to be signed, are cooperation on inland waterways for cargo transportation, cooperation in health and agriculture sectors and cooperation between the Public Administration Training Centres of the two countries for exchange of faculty members as well as training and capacity building.

On the same day, Tshering will meet President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban in the evening, and after that he will attend a banquet to be hosted by the Bangladesh premier at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon.

On Sunday, which is the first day of Bangla calendar, he will attend a new year celebration cultural function to be organised by Surer Dhara at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Later, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, an alumnus of Mymensingh Medical College, will fly to the district to visit his alma mater. He will address a students’ gathering there.

He will return to Dhaka on the same day and meet Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque separately in the afternoon.

Tshering is also scheduled to visit Square Pharmaceuticals factory in Gazipur.

He is scheduled to have breakfast with Bhutanese students and citizens living here before leaving Dhaka on April 15 morning.