Khaleda to meet Xi Friday afternoon

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at 5pm on Friday at a city hotel in city's Khilkhet area. “BNP Chairperson will meet the Chinese President at the presidential suite of Le Meridian Hotel at 5pm on Friday,” UNB quotes Khaleda Zia’s press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel as saying on Thursday. The Chinese President is scheduled to arrive here on Friday morning on a 22-hour state visit. The visit is taking place three decades after Chinese President Li Xiannian visited Bangladesh in March 1986. A BNP leader close to Khaleda, seeking anonymity, revealed that a six-member BNP delegation, including party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mahbubur Rahman, Nazrul Islam Khan, chairperson’s advisers Reaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmed, will accompany Khaleda. During the meeting, he said the BNP chief will discuss a wide rage of issues relating to the bilateral interests, Bangladesh’s latest political situation and next general election. Earlier in the day, BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy at a programme hoped that the Chinese President’s tour will produce positive outcomes for the country protecting mutual interests of the two friendly nations. “We welcome his tour, but don’t know with which offers the Chinese President is coming or what our country is seeking from him. We’re completely in the dark, but we hope it’ll bring good for the county,” the BNP leader said.