Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left Dhaka for an eight-day visit to Saudi Arabia and the UK.
The Biman Bangladesh aircraft carrying the PM and her entourage flew for the Saudi city of Dammam around 4:30pm on Sunday.
The flight is expected to land at the King Fahad International Airport city around 7:50pm local time. Representatives of the Saudi government and Bangladesh Ambassador Golam Masiha will receive Hasina.
On Monday, Hasina will attend the closing of a joint military operation ‘Gulf Shield-1’, participated by 23 countries including Bangladesh.
She will fly for the UK the same day for the Commonwealth summit in London.
The heads of the Commonwealth countries will be meeting from Apr 17 to Apr 21 at the invitation of UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
She will be accompanied by the foreign minister, the state minister for foreign affairs, the state minister for women’s and children’s affairs, the prime minister’s chief secretary, the SDG affairs chief convener and top officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
This year’s topic of the meeting is ‘Towards a Common Future’.
Sheikh Hasina will lead the Commonwealth Women’s Forum session on ‘Educate to Empower: Making Equitable and Quality Primary Education and Secondary Education a Reality for Girls Across the Commonwealth’ at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on Apr 17.
Sheikh Hasina will also be the key speaker at the UK research institute ODI’s ‘Bangladesh’s Advances in Development: Policy, Progress and Possibilities’.
She will also participate in a roundtable discussion on ‘Can Asia Keep Growing’ on Apr 18.
That evening she will attend a reception and dinner organised by UK Prime Minister Theresa May. She will attend the inauguration and reception of the Commonwealth summit on Apr 19.
The prime minister is also scheduled to attend a reception by the Commonwealth secretary general and a dinner by Queen Elizabeth II.
She will attend the concluding executive session of the summit on Apr 20 and then attend a Royal Commonwealth Society-0rganised reception and the Queen's birthday event. She will also attend a reception organised by the expatriate Bangladeshi community.
Hasina is also scheduled for bilateral talks with the heads of government of several countries.
The prime minister is expected to return to Dhaka on Apr 23.