Bangladesh interim govt chief Yunus to attend BIMSTEC summit in Thailand: Report

Dhaka, Aug 20 (PTI) Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus will attend the sixth BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok next month, his first foreign visit after taking charge as the head of an interim government following the ouster of premier Sheikh Hasina, a media report said on Tuesday.

The 84-year-old Nobel laureate took oath as the head of the interim government on August 8, replacing Hasina, 76, who abruptly resigned and fled to India following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.

Yunus will travel to the Thai capital from September 3-5 to attend the sixth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported, citing a senior official at the foreign ministry.

This will be his first foreign visit after taking charge of the interim government.

The BIMSTEC brings together seven countries of South and Southeast Asia for multi-faceted cooperation.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are its member states.

The sixth BIMSTEC summit is set to seal an agreement on maritime transport cooperation, which is expected to boost trade among the member states.

After the summit, Bangladesh will take up the role of its chairmanship.

Last month, India hosted the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ two-day retreat to review various initiatives to expand cooperation among the grouping’s member nations. PTI GRS ZH GRS GRS