Regional, UK leaders vow stronger ties in talks with new Bangladesh PM
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader was sworn in as the country’s 11th prime minister and the first male head of government since 1991.
Visiting leaders from South Asia and the United Kingdom met with Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister, Tarique Rahman, following Tuesday’s oath-taking ceremony.
During the meetings, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, including cooperation in trade and investment, connectivity, energy, education, health care, climate crisis, migration, people-to-people contacts and regional collaboration.
Among those attending were Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu; Bhutan Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay; Indian Parliament Speaker Om Birla; Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary; Nepal Foreign Minister Bala Nanda Sharma; Sri Lanka’s Health and Mass Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa; and UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific Seema Malhotra.
The leaders paid separate courtesy calls on Rahman, representing their respective governments at the ceremony.
Rahman reaffirmed his commitment to working closely with partners in South Asia and beyond to consolidate bilateral ties and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
Interim government dissolved
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader was sworn in as the country’s 11th prime minister and the first male head of government since 1991. He will serve a five-year term leading the 300-seat Parliament and a 49-member Cabinet.
Earlier on Tuesday, 297 lawmakers were sworn in for the 13th Parliament, elected in last week’s elections — the first since the 2024 uprising that ended the 15-year rule of the Awami League.
The new Parliament includes 212 lawmakers from the BNP-led bloc and 77 from the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led bloc.
An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus had governed the country since August 8, 2024, after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 of that year.
In separate notifications on Tuesday night, the Cabinet Division formally appointed the prime minister and 49 Cabinet members — 25 full ministers and 24 junior ministers.
It also said the advisory council of the Yunus-led interim government will be dissolved, transferring administrative and policy responsibilities to the new Cabinet.