Bangladesh rolls out red carpet for visiting Bhutanese PM

A red carpet welcome was accorded to Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay as he arrived in Dhaka today for a two-day state visit, where he was received by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told BSS that Yunus greeted the Bhutanese premier at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

Tobgay and his delegation landed at the airport around 8:15am on a Drukair flight. The two leaders briefly met at the airport’s VVIP lounge, during which the Bhutanese Prime Minister inquired about the casualties and damage caused by Friday’s earthquake and conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.

After the meeting, Tobgay was escorted to a makeshift saluting dais, where he received a 19-gun salute and a guard of honour.

From the airport, the Bhutanese leader proceeded to the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar to honour the martyrs of Bangladesh’s Liberation War. He placed wreaths at the memorial’s altar, signed the visitors’ book, and planted a Bakul sapling on the premises.

In the afternoon, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin are scheduled to meet him, ahead of his one-on-one meeting with Chief Adviser Yunus at the latter’s Tejgaon office around 3:00pm.

Prime Minister Tobgay will also attend an official banquet in his honour this evening.