By Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan/Times of Bangladesh
Colombo, October 15 – Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has been in office for just over a year. In that short span, he has managed 14 foreign trips—almost one every month. The Nobel laureate, once hailed as the face of social innovation and humility, has become the country’s most frequent flyer. For a man whose constitutional duty is to steer Bangladesh toward reforms and a free, fair election, his enthusiasm for travel is beginning to grate on public nerves.
Since taking charge in August 2024, Yunus has visited Italy, Japan, China, Thailand, Qatar, the UAE, the UK, the US, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Switzerland, the Vatican and Malaysia. In the month of April alone, the 85-year-old head of the government visited three countries – Thailand, Qatar and the Vatican. Apart from holding bilateral meetings, he has spoken at summits, shared panels with world leaders, and posed at global events like the Boao Forum in China, the World Government Summit in Dubai, and the Nikkei Future of Asia in Tokyo. Undoubtedly, as a global celebrity, the Nobel laureate was in the limelight, which he clearly enjoys.
But many Bangladeshis wonder: what do these trips actually deliver? His latest journey to Rome for the FAO World Food Forum has drawn widespread criticism. The event, focused on food systems and sustainability, is undoubtedly important—but it is a routine multilateral conference where representation by a state minister or ambassador would have sufficed. For the chief adviser of an interim administration, the optics are poor. Yunus already met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York barely two weeks ago. Meloni is reportedly due in Dhaka soon. There is little justification for another bilateral photo opportunity in Rome.
The issue is not travel itself, but proportion and purpose. In 14 months, Yunus has toured 13 countries but visited only a few districts of Bangladesh like Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Rangpur. That imbalance between global visibility and local absence is leading many people to ask questions. At a time when ordinary Bangladeshis are grappling with inflation, joblessness, and dwindling purchasing power, their leader seems more at home at international conferences.
Even some of his admirers are uneasy. They say Yunus, once admired for his simplicity and social conscience, now risks looking out of touch. The interim government was expected to be different—modest, reformist, people-focused. Instead, it is increasingly being judged by the same yardstick once used against Sheikh Hasina’s administration, whose ministers were frequently criticised for globe-trotting at public expense.
Supporters of Yunus argue that his global stature benefits Bangladesh, securing attention from investors, donors, and development partners. There is some merit to that claim. His meetings in Japan and China did open discussions on investment and renewable energy cooperation. But beyond those two cases, few of his foreign visits have produced clear outcomes. There are no significant trade deals, no solutions to the protracted Rohingya crisis, no major aid packages, no new diplomatic breakthroughs to point to. For most citizens, the tangible results remain elusive, while the costs—financial and symbolic—are obvious.
Bangladesh is a lower-middle-income country where every taka spent abroad invites scrutiny. Yunus’s team insists his entourages are smaller and less extravagant than those of the previous regime. Yet the frequency of the trips tells its own story. In an economy struggling with inflation and other economic issues, a head of government’s month-by-month global appearances feel indulgent. The fact that his own advisers have also been racking up international air miles only strengthens the impression of a government fond of the world stage but detached from the nation’s daily grind.
The Rome trip, more than any other, has crystallised public frustration. The FAO forum, while prestigious, does not demand attendance by a country’s chief executive—particularly one serving in an interim capacity. The optics of Yunus travelling to a ceremonial event abroad while most Bangladeshis battle rising food prices at home have been hard to ignore.
Leadership, after all, is about priorities. Yunus’s interim government was never meant to chart a foreign policy revolution. Its job is to restore administrative integrity, reform institutions, maintain law and order and ensure credible elections. Those tasks require time, focus, and a presence on the ground—none of which can be accomplished from a first-class seat.
To his credit, Yunus remains a revered figure abroad. He is welcomed at forums where few Bangladeshis have spoken before. His name still commands respect in the worlds of development, microfinance, and sustainability. But that global prestige is now becoming a double-edged sword. At home, people are beginning to ask whether the Nobel laureate has mistaken his caretaker role for a continuation of his international celebrity tour.
The interim leader’s moral authority depends on restraint, not exposure. Bangladeshis expect him to lead by example—to embody the discipline and humility that once defined his reputation. A government built on promises of accountability and reform cannot afford to be seen as a traveling roadshow. The people want action, not applause.
Muhammad Yunus has spent a lifetime telling the world that small is beautiful and that change begins from the grassroots. Ironically, now that he holds the highest office in the country, he seems furthest from those grassroots. His passport may be full, but his domestic itinerary remains empty.
Bangladesh does not need a happy flyer; it needs a grounded leader. If Yunus is to regain the faith of the people who once believed in his moral clarity, he must turn his gaze inward—toward the villages, the factories, the struggling families who cannot afford to fly anywhere. The world will always be there to listen to him. But at this moment, Bangladesh needs him to stay home.
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