Staff Correspondent

Following the Prime Minister’s “highly successful and fruitful” visit to New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Bangladesh is now discussing possible high-level visits by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to Türkiye, Japan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in October and November this year, officials said.

Discussions are underway as Dhaka considers invitations extended by Japan and the KSA for separate bilateral visits by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister has also been invited to COP31, which will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20.

“COP” stands for Conference of the Parties. The Conference of the Parties is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC, which was adopted in 1992.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir met with Türkiye Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 25, and they exchanged views on COP31, including the participation of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, said a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Japan invited the Prime Minister to pay an official visit at a mutually convenient time, as Tokyo reaffirmed its commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations with Dhaka.

As per preliminary discussions, the Prime Minister is likely to pay an official visit to Japan in the last week of October, a diplomatic source told UNB, noting that nothing is finalised yet.

In April, Bangladesh welcomed a Japan-led initiative to deal with energy issues efficiently in the Asian region, noting that all countries need to come together as no country can solve the issue alone.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman joined the online meeting at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also invited the Prime Minister to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues.

Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Abdullah Zafer H bin Abiyah handed over the invitation letter to Tarique Rahman during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat last month.

In the letter, the Saudi Crown Prince expressed his country’s keenness to further strengthen bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh in areas of mutual interest, with a view to fulfilling the aspirations of the two countries and their brotherly peoples. The Prime Minister is likely to pay the visit to the KSA in November, if both sides finalise mutually convenient dates.

A section of Indian media reported that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman may visit India in November or early December this year while Dhaka eyes a “propitious environment” for the Prime Minister to make a bilateral visit to India.

Reiterating his optimism about addressing any issue through top-level meetings and interactions, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi last month said he remains very hopeful that a visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman "should take place much sooner."

"Issues can only be sorted out by meeting, and I am very hopeful," he said, noting that hearts are very close and that he wants to see a golden chapter in Bangladesh-India relations.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had meetings with the heads of state and government of seven countries, including Türkiye, Iran and Pakistan, during four working days in New York alongside his participation in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The seven leaders included Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.