Several foreign ministers, special envoys and senior representatives from different countries are arriving in Dhaka to pay their last respects to former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and to attend her namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers).

The namaz-e-janaza of Khaleda Zia is scheduled to be held at 2pm at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and Manik Mia Avenue.

Followed by this, she will be laid to rest beside the grave of her husband, former President Ziaur Rahman at 3:30pm.

Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said representatives from a number of South and South-East Asian countries will be present at the funeral prayers.

Officials view the participation as part of diplomatic courtesy and political respect extended to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, an uncompromising leader for establishing democracy in Bangladesh.

Those confirmed to attend include Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Bhutan’s Foreign Minister DN Dhungyel, Maldives President’s special envoy and Higher Education Minister Ali Haidar Ahmed, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Bala Nanda Sharma, and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. Representatives from several other countries are also expected to arrive in Dhaka to pay tribute.

On Tuesday afternoon, a source at India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed to Bangladeshi media that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar would attend the janaza.

Earlier, the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would participate in the funeral prayers.

A source at the mission said Dar would arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday and proceed directly to the janaza.

Diplomatic sources said the presence of high-level foreign dignitaries is being seen as international recognition of Khaleda Zia’s political stature and her long role in state affairs. She served as Bangladesh’s prime minister three times and, as the wife of BNP founder and martyred president Ziaur Rahman, remained a central figure in the country’s political history.

The three-time former Prime Minister breathed her last around 6am at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday (30 December) while undergoing treatment. She was 80.