Online Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Johannesburg for home today after attending the 15th BRICS Summit held on August 22-24. She attended the summit at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. A regular flight of the Emirates Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members will depart from the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa around 1:40pm (local time) today.

The flight is scheduled to land at the Hazrat Shahjal International Airport, Dhaka at 8:40 am (BD time) on August 27 after one hour stopover at the Dubai International Airport in UAE. The prime minister arrived in Johannesburg on August 22 night to attend the 15th BRICS Summit.

South Africa hosted the historic 15th Summit of BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions. President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit.

On August 23, the prime minister delivered a speech as the chief guest at the “Bangladesh Trade and Business Summit”, organized by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). Later, she attended the “Bangladesh Envoys Conference” organized by Bangladesh ambassadors stationed in African countries.

In the afternoon, she held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President XI Jinping at the Hotel Hilton Sandton. In the evening, the prime minister joined a cultural programme and “State Banquet” hosted by the current chair of BRICS and the South African president.

On August 24, she addressed on behalf of Bangladesh as a member of the “New Development Bank of BRICS”  at Friends of BRICS Leaders Dialogue (BRICS-Africa Outreach and the BRICS Plus Dialogues) comprising representatives from 70 countries.

On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, bilateral meetings between Sheikh Hasina and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Tanzania Dr Saima Sulluhu and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were held at Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday.

A meeting was also held between Bangladesh premier and President of the New Development Bank Dilma Vana Rousseff at the same venue. During the meetings, the dignitaries highly praised Bangladesh’s remarkable development under Sheikh Hasina’s prudent leadership,Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen said in a media briefing. In the evening, she met the Bangladeshi expatriates living in South Africa.