Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus will hold a
bilateral meeting with US President Joseph R Biden on Tuesday (September 24) on
the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The
meeting will be held at 11 am (New York time), which will be the first meeting
of the Bangladesh interim government chief with the US President.
“On
September 24, the Bangladesh government chief and the US president will hold
the meeting at 11 am (local time) at the UN headquarters in New York,”
councilor of Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN Fahmid Farhan told BSS.
Diplomats
said the meeting of Chief Adviser Prof Yunus and US President Biden indicates
that the US administration wants to enhance diplomatic and economic relations
with the Prof Yunus-led Bangladesh's interim government.
Through
this talks, the US administration is sending a clear message to Bangladesh that
it is keen to boost bilateral ties, they said.
Diplomatic
sources said during the high level talks between Joe Biden and Prof Yunus, the
two leaders will discuss in detail how diplomatic and economic relations could
be enhanced in writing a new chapter in bilateral relations between Bangladesh
and the United States.
They
will also discuss the US support in implementing the reform agendas taken by
the Bangladesh interim government.
Foreign
Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain told BSS that he believes the Nobel Peace
Laureate and a world-renowned personality like Prof Muhammad Yunus would play a
positive role in leading the Bangladesh delegation and speaking for Bangladesh
in the UN session.
So,
he said, this session is very significant for Bangladesh.
A
diplomat at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to of the United Nations said once
the US President gives a speech at the UNGA session, he hosts a reception in
the afternoon of that day in honour of the heads of state and government
joining the session.
Holding
a bilateral meeting between the US President and the top leader of any country
during the UNGA session is very rare, he said.
So
far, the US President did not hold any meeting with any top leader of
Bangladesh on the sidelines of the UNGA session, while the US president have
always met and talked to the heads of state and government of Bangladesh at the
reception hosted by the US President.
Besides,
there was no meeting between the heads of Bangladesh government and the US top
leader at the UN General Session.
About
significance of the Biden-Yunus talks, the Bangladeshi diplomat said a US high-level
delegation visited Dhaka on September 15 after the interim government took the
charge of the government on August 8.
Within
two weeks of the visit of the US delegation, he said, US President Joe Biden is
going to hold a meeting with Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Prof Yunus.
The
upcoming meeting in New York indicates that the US will provide all kinds of
support to Bangladesh in the future, including reforms in various sectors after
the political changeover, he added.