PM gets red carpet welcome on arrival in Tokyo

A red carpet was rolled out as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Tokyo Tuesday afternoon on a four-day official visit at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

On arrival at Haneda International Airport at 4:45pm local time (BD Time 1:45pm), the premier was received by Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs YAMADA Kenji. She was given static guard of honour at the airport.

From the airport, Hasina was taken to the Akasaka Palace. On her way to the Palace, both sides of road was decorated with the flags of two friendly countries --Bangladesh and Japan to welcome the Bangladesh premier.

Earlier, A VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 7:56am (BD time) for Tokyo.

Sheikh Hasina will stay in Tokyo till April 28 on the first leg of her two-week tri-nation official visit to Japan, the USA and the UK.

As per the foreign ministry officials, during her visit Bangladesh and Japan are likely to sign eight memorandums of cooperation (MoCs) or agreements including one on defence cooperation without purchase.

The MoCs or agreements would be signed during a meeting between the two Prime Ministers (Sheikh Hasina and Kishida Fumio) of the friendly countries on April 26.

Eight MoCs or deals are likely to be signed between the two countries in the sectors of agriculture, metro-rail, industrial up-gradation, ship recycling, customs matters, intellectual property, defense cooperation, ICT and cyber security cooperation etc in presence of the two leaders after the formal bilateral meeting between the heads of government of the two countries at the Prime Minister's Office of Japan.

PM Hasina will have a courtesy call on Emperor of Japan Naruhito on April 26 and a guard of honour will be given to the Bangladesh Prime Minister there.

The formalities of the meeting will conclude with a dinner hosted at the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan in honor of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

This is the sixth visit of PM Hasina to Japan. Earlier, the PM visited Japan in 1997, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

During the visit, the PM is scheduled to attend an investment summit and a community reception along with a few bilateral meetings.

She will also hand over the “Friends of Liberation War Honour” to a few Japanese nationals, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The prime minister is expected to return home on May 09 after visiting the USA and then the UK.