President Bhandari arrives in Dhaka, important meetings scheduled

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has arrived here in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, this morning in connection with her two-day state visit to Bangladesh.

President Bhandari is visiting the South Asian neighbour at the friendly invitation of her Bangladeshi counterpart Md Abdul Hamid on the occasion of a special ceremony marking the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's Father of the Nation.

A special plane of the national flag-carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), with the President and the Nepali delegation accompanying her on board landed at the Hazarat Sahajlal International Airport at 10 am.

President of Bangladesh Hamid received President Bhandari at the airport. Nepali Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dr Bansidhar Mishra had welcomed President Bhandari soon after she disembarked from the plane.

President Bhandari was offered a 21-gun salute and Guard of Honour at the airport.

She then was taken to the National Martyrs memorial at Sabhar where she laid a wreath and paid tributes to the martyrs. She also planted a sapling.

President Bhandari has now arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel where she would be staying.

She will be holding bilateral talks with her Bangladesh counterpart and also attend the bilateral agreement signing ceremony today.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajed is scheduled to call on President Bhandari also today.

President Bhandari's entourage comprised of 54 persons including her daughter Usha Kiran Bhandari, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, the President's Information and Communications Expert, Tika Prasad Dhakal, Chancellor of Nepal Academy Ganga Prasad Uprety, the Secretary at the Office of the President, Dr Hari Poudel, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Prasad Koirala, Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Poudel, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dinesh Bhattarai, Principal Personal Secretary to the President Dr Bhesh Raj Adhikari, among others.

Similarly, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yagya Bahadur Hamal, the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry, Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi, Dr Kailash Bhandari, the President's private physician, and officials at the Nepali Embassy in Dhaka are also included in the President's entourage.

A 19-member cultural team under the leadership of Ashok Kumar Rai and three media persons are also in the President's entourage.