Dhaka – Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit China on the first week in July to attend an annual economic summit and hold talks with Chinese leaders on issues related to bilateral, regional and international interest, officials said on Wednesday.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka said Hasina is likely to raise the issue of Rohingya crisis during the official talks with her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping as Bangladesh has now been burdened with hosting more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims driven away from neighbouring Myanmar.
The Prime Minister at a news conference earlier in the month said that she would seek Chinese cooperation to ensure safe and dignified return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims living in squalid camps in Bangladesh.
Nearly 750,000 of the refugees crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar army launched a brutal crackdown in the ethnic group in northern Rakhine state in August 2017. Myanmar has been playing dilly-dally over the return of the refugees despite the fact that Dhaka and Naypyidaw signed an agreement for repatriation of the Rohingya.
Hasina, who believes Myanmar is unwilling to take back its citizens, has been mobilizing international opinions for a peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis.
During her five-day official trip to China scheduled to begin on July 1, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister will also attend the annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) to be held in the Chinese city of Dalian from July 1-3.
She will attend the inaugural ceremony of the WEF Summer Davos at Dalian International Conference Center in the morning. The theme of this year’s summit is “Leadership 4.0 – Succeeding in a New Era of Globalization”.
More than 1,800 leaders from government, business, civil society, academia and the arts will join the summit in Dalian Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2019.
The meeting will spur leaders to find new strategic models to adapt to the world’s environmental challenges, regional competition, economic disparities and technological disruption.
Hasina will also meet Founder and Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab at his office and join a panel discussion on “Cooperation in the Pacific Rim” on July 2.
On July 3, the Prime Minister will leave Dalian for Beijing where she is scheduled to join a community reception followed by a dinner at Legendale Hotel.
On the following day she will join the welcoming ceremony and place wreaths at the heroes memorial at the Great Hall of the People in the morning.
She will hold bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and attend the agreement signing ceremony between officials from both Bangladesh and China at the Great Hall of the People.
Hasina is expected to attend a business roundtable with Chinese business leaders at CCPIT in the afternoon.
The Bangladeshi leader will deliver a speech at an event to be organized by a Pangoal Institution, a Chinese think-tank on July 5. Chinese business leaders will also meet the Prime Minister.
Hasina will call on Chinese President Xi Jinping at Diaoyutai State Guest House on the same day. The Prime Minister is scheduled to return home on July 6.
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