'Bangladesh will welcome election observers from EU, UK'

Bangladesh will welcome observers from the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) in the upcoming general election.

"We will welcome observers from the European Union and the United Kingdom in the next general election," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday.

She said this when the outgoing UK High Commissioner Robert Chatterton Dickson paid a farewell call at her official residence Ganabhaban, reports UNB.

PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

Mentioning that some local election observers have a different agenda, the Prime Minister said they have established voting rights of people in Bangladesh.

She said the extreme poverty rate has declined to 5.6 percent while poverty rate was down to 18.7 percent due to continued democracy in Bangladesh.

During the meeting, they held talks on the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the UK.

The UK envoy said his country wants to strengthen economic partnership and cooperation in the aviation sector with Bangladesh.

He said the UK wants to enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in order to tackle climate change, in line with the accord signed between the countries last March.

On the Rohingya issue, Sheikh Hasina sought international cooperation to repatriate Rohingyas in a sustainable way.

She said the number of Rohingyas has increased largely as 40,000 babies were born in the camps, adding to the huge burden on Bangladesh.

"Rohingyas are nationals of Myanmar and they must return to their homeland," she said.

Robert Chatterton Dickson said his country supports Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue.

Sheikh Hasina stressed the need for stopping the Russia-Ukraine war immediately as the entire world has been suffering due to the war.

"We're always against any war," she said.

The Prime Minister said Russia and Ukraine can solve their problems through bilateral talks, mentioning that Bangladesh has solved all its bilateral issues this way. PMO Secretary Mohammad Salahuddin was present during the meeting.