Shawdesh desk:

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday paid a courtesy call on president Mohammed Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

‘During the meeting, the prime minister discussed various state-level issues, including her recent visit to the Western European country Belgium and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,’ president’s press secretary Md Joynal Abedin said.

He said that the PM also handed over two reports regarding her Brussels and Jeddah visits to the president.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina went to Belgium on October 24 on a three-day (Oct 25-27) official visit to attend the ‘Global Gateway Forum’ at the invitation of the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Later, she went to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend the international conference on ‘Women in Islam: Status and Empowerment’ in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia in coordination with the general secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation hosted the conference in November 6-8.

The PM also performed Umrah and Ziarat of the Rawja Mubarak of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in Medina on the sidelines of the summit.

President Shahabuddin thanked prime minister Sheikh Hasina for her recent successful foreign visits.

The Bangabhaban spokesperson said that the president and the prime minister exchanged pleasantries and inquired about each other’s health during the meeting.

The prime minister wished president’s early recovery as he recently underwent a cardiac bypass surgery in a Singapore hospital.

Earlier, on her arrival at Bangabhaban at about 11:15am, president Shahabuddin and his spouse Rebecca Sultana welcomed the prime minister with a bouquet.

The prime minister also presented a bouquet of flowers to the head of the state and his spouse.

Secretaries concerned to the President and Prime Minister’s Office were present there.