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Published : 13 Jun 2025, 01:53 AM
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has briefed King Charles III on the major changes under way in Bangladesh and the reform initiatives taken by the interim government.
A one-on-one meeting took place at Buckingham Palace at 11:20am local time on Thursday, the third day of the interim prime minister’a four-day official UK visit, according to Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.
According to him, the 30-minute meeting is being considered the “most significant moment” of the entire visit.
“It was a completely private meeting, attended only by the king and the chief advisor,” Shafiqul said at a briefing.
The discussion covered the progress of current reforms as well as a range of personal and professional topics.
“As King Charles has known Muhammad Yunus for many years, they spoke about their longstanding personal and professional bond,” the press aide added.
He noted that King Charles and Yunus are “deeply familiar” with each other’s work and values. “King Charles is well aware of and respects his [Yunus’s] work.
“The king is also known as a ruler sympathetic to the poor and actively engaged in environmental causes,” Shafiqul said. “He personally wrote the foreword to one of Prof Yunus’s acclaimed books, which gained worldwide success.”
Following the meeting, King Charles and Queen Camilla presented Yunus with a gift bearing their signatures and photograph.
Shafiqul described it as “an extraordinary gesture, seen as a mark of mutual respect and a symbol of their longstanding relationship”.
'STRONG TIES'
The press secretary said the broader UK visit has been productive, with multiple meetings held between the visiting delegation and several British institutions.
He added, “On the 10th, 11th and 12th [June], four members of the delegation --Khalilur Rahman, Lutfey Siddiqi, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Abdul Momen and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur--attended key meetings.
“The most important was [Wednesday’s] meeting with the [National Crime Agency], which seized a property worth £11 million linked to former minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed.”
Other meetings involving British cabinet members and security experts were also described as “highly productive”.
Speaking on Dhaka-London relations, Shafiqul said: “The UK is a long-standing friend. We share a strong relationship, and that has been clearly reflected in the series of meetings over the past few days.”
