Shawdesh Desk:

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam received President-designate COP26 Alok Sharma, MP at Hazrat Shahjalal Imternational Airport in Dhaka at 9:20am on Wednesday.

The President-designate COP26 landed at Dhaka airport by a flight (No. QR 0957) this morning.

Sources said the COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma arrived in Bangladesh on a two-day visit to to strengthen support for UK COP26 climate priorities ahead of hosting the crucial UN climate change summit in Glasgow this November.

He will hold a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at 12:30pm at Foreign Service Academy.

Sharma is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban at 11:30am.

He will also attend “UK- Bangladesh Climate Partnership Roundtable” at 2pm at Foreign Service Academy before holding a joint briefing at 3:00pm.

During his engagements in Dhaka, Sharma will discuss shared priorities with Bangladesh which remains a “crucial” partner on the road to COP26.

He will discuss the needs of countries most vulnerable to climate change, to ensure they are equipped to deal with its current and damaging effects ahead of COP26.

Mentionable, Alok Sharma was appointed full-time President for COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, on 8 January 2021.

He was previously Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and President for COP26 between 13 February 2020 and 8 January 2021.