Dhaka: US Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Dhaka for 9 hours on Monday, with a series of meetings with Bangladeshi leaders slated to keep his schedule packed.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will receive Kerry at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on his arrival at about 9:25am from Geneva by a special aircraft, said an official at the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister’s Office at about 12:00noon and will hold bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at state guesthouse Padma at about 1:00pm, according to the schedule decided by both sides so far.

The Foreign Minister will host a lunch in honor of his US counterpart.

Before that, Kerry will visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in the Dhaka at about 11:30am, foreign ministry officials said.

The US Secretary of State will visit a garment factory in Mirpur at about 3:00pm.

He will meet youngsters and civil society representatives at the EMK Centre at about 4:00pm.

Then he will hold a meeting with US Embassy staff at about 5:00pm, and from there he will move to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

He is scheduled to leave Dhaka for New Delhi at 6:40pm. Foreign Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque will see him off at the airport.

Earlier, the officials of the foreign ministry, the US Embassy and law enforcement agencies held a series of meetings on Saturday on overall preparation of the visit.
Foreign Minister Ali, earlier, said all aspects of the bilateral relations will be discussed during Kerry’s visit.

Talking to UNB on Friday, US embassy spokesperson Nancy Van Horn said priority areas for the visit will include US’s growing cooperation on global issues, bilateral partnership on democracy, development, security and human rights.