Khalilur off to London to attend C'wealth FMs' meeting

Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman left Dhaka on Saturday for a five-day official visit to London to attend the 26th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM), scheduled to be held at Lancaster House on Sunday.

Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir is accompanying the foreign minister during the visit, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

The visit is expected to provide Bangladesh with an opportunity to seek broader international support for its candidature for the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the 2026-2027 term.

On the sidelines of the CFAMM, the foreign minister and the adviser are expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings with their counterparts from participating countries to discuss issues of mutual interest and Bangladesh's UNGA bid, the official said. Diplomatic sources said Bangladesh has already secured broad backing from member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and several other partner countries.

Recently, Palestine withdrew its candidature for the UNGA presidency, leaving Bangladesh to compete with Cyprus for the position.

The election for the president of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly will be held on June 2 at the UN headquarters in New York City. In accordance with the established regional rotation system, the president will be elected from the Asia-Pacific Group.

Bangladesh last held the position in 1986-87 when then foreign minister Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury served as president of the 41st UN General Assembly.

The CFAMM will begin with a retreat session followed by a formal meeting of foreign ministers. The gathering will discuss policy priorities ahead of the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled to take place in Antigua and Barbuda from November 1 to 4, 2026.

The meeting is also significant as it marks the start of activities for Commonwealth Day, which will be observed across the 56-member Commonwealth on Monday.

The foreign minister and the prime minister's adviser are expected to return to Dhaka on Thursday.