Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, June 15, 2003
Powell's forthcoming visit to Bangladesh timely: FM
The Foreign Office on Saturday described US Secretary of State Colin Powell's forthcoming visit to Bangladesh as "timely", reported the Bangladesh News Agency.
The Foreign Office on Saturday described US Secretary of State Colin Powell's forthcoming visit to Bangladesh as "timely", reported the Bangladesh News Agency.
The foreign office said the visit is a testimony to warm and friendly working relations between Bangladesh and the United States.
Powell will arrive in Dhaka on June 19 at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart M. Morshed Khan. Powell will lead a 7-member delegation including Assistant Secretary of State for SouthAsia Christina Rocca.
During the visit, the US secretary of state will call on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and hold talks with Foreign Minister Morshed Khan.
Powell is coming to Bangladesh on the second leg of his three-nation trip to Asia and the Middle East from June 16 to June 23.
Foreign Minister Morshed Khan said on Friday it was not a stop-over but a visit to Dhaka, adding that this time Powell would be visiting only Bangladesh without stopping at any other capital in the subcontinent of South Asia.
Powell will first attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum on June 18 and the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference on June 19 in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
After visiting Bangladesh, Powell will travel to Jordan and attend the World Economic Forum where he will discuss proposals for a Middle East Free Trade Area and the Middle East Partnership Initiative.