PM Tarique Rahman to address UN in Bangla at midnight

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will address the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in Bangla today, Thursday. His speech is scheduled for 5pm New York time, which is 3am Bangladesh time on Friday.

This is Tarique Rahman's first speech at the UN General Assembly as Prime Minister. At the same time, he is set to address the UN General Assembly as the third member of his family. Earlier, his father, President Ziaur Rahman, and mother, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, addressed the UN General Assembly.

A total of 18 people are scheduled to speak at Thursday afternoon's session. Among them, Tarique Rahman will speak as the 11th speaker. Fifteen minutes have been allocated for his speech.

The Prime Minister will deliver his speech in Bangla, presenting Bangladesh's vision and priorities before the international community. Government officials said his speech will give importance to climate change, world peace and security, sustainable development, economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the Rohingya crisis.

Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam said the speech will also highlight Bangladesh's democratic transition, the rule of law and accountability, global peace and security, climate change, sustainable development and economic cooperation. Alongside this, Bangladesh's position on youth and women's empowerment, education and health, equitable use of modern technology and reform of the multilateral system is also scheduled to be presented.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister spoke at a high-level meeting on climate change and just transition at the UN headquarters. There, he called for five urgent global actions, including reliable climate financing for climate-vulnerable countries.

On the same day, before his speech at the General Assembly, Tarique Rahman is scheduled to deliver opening remarks at a high-level meeting on tackling the existential crisis caused by sea-level rise. He will then attend several other programmes, including a bilateral meeting with Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.

He also has meetings scheduled with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

The 81st session of the UN began on September 8 and will end on September 7, 2027. The president of this session is Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman.