A red carpet was rolled out on Tuesday as Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering arrived in Dhaka on a three-day visit to attend the celebration of Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s Independence as a special representative of the King.
He is the fourth leader of the region to join the grand 10-day celebrations with the theme of ‘the Eternal Mujib’.
Dr Tshering will speak from the main event of the celebration at the National Parade Ground on Wednesday. The bilateral meeting with his counterpart Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be held on the same day.
Earlier, Hasina received him at the airport after a special flight of Royal Bhutanese Airlines Druk Air carrying the Bhutanese Prime Minister along with his entourage members landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka at 9.30am.
He was presented with a flower bouquet, while a 21 gun salute heralded his arrival. He was given a guard of honor by a smartly turned out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force at the HSIA.
The two prime ministers enjoyed the state honour, staying on the makeshift saluting dais while the national anthems of the respective countries were played.
The state guest also inspected the parade and subsequently both the premiers introduced the delegations of the respective countries to each other.
From the airport, the Bhutanese Premier went to the National Memorial in Savar and paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh by placing a wreath there.
He also signed the visitors’ book and planted a sapling on the memorial premises.
He also visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi no. 32 and paid tributes to Bangabandhu and signed the visitor's book there.
To join the 10-day celebration from 17-26 March 2021 with the theme of “The Eternal Mujib”, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive here on March 26 and depart from Dhaka on March 27 as the last world leader.
Earlier, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and his spouse Fazna Ahmed graced the opening ceremony.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa also joined the third day programme and President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari attended the function as guest of honor on the sixth day.
