Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is heavily engaged in bilateral diplomacy at the United Nations, a place for multilateralism, in addition to her regular engagement there.
She had bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
She is also scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Netherlands Premier Mark Rutte at the wee hours of Tuesday local time.
“The prime minister had very successful meetings with the Chinese president and her Indian counterpart,” Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.
In the meeting with the Chinese president, both the leaders had substantive discussion, he said.
Asked when the Chinese leadership is coming to Dhaka, the foreign secretary said both the countries are trying to find out a date.
This year is the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh-China diplomatic relations and both the countries are celebrating the event with utmost interest.
The Chinese foreign minister has already visited Dhaka and Bangladesh has formally invited the Chinese leadership to come to Dhaka this year.
Hasina at the UNGA participated in a Chinese event on gender equality and women empowerment on Sunday.
The meeting with Indian prime minister was productive, the foreign secretary said.
After the meeting of Bangladesh and Indian prime ministers, Modi tweeted: “Yet another productive meeting with PM Sheikh Hasina. We discussed India-Bangladesh ties.”
This is their third meeting this year.
