Bangladesh's upcoming general election did not figure in the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday.

“There was no discussion between the two Prime Ministers on the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific issue,” Foreign Minister AK Momen told reporters while responding to a question during his briefing here on the outcome of the bilateral meeting of the two prime ministers.

However, regarding the election, Momen said, no one wants instability in the region, including in Bangladesh.

He said that the people of Bangladesh do not want to go back to the bad times after 2001 when the BNP-Jamaat alliance government championed in corruption for five times, created militancy, bombed across the country, grenade attack on 21 August, and exploded bombs  in the courtrooms.

But he said that he did not know whether the matter of election came or not during the tete-a-tete of the two heads of the government of the two neighbouring countries.

Mentioning that the Awami League government has confidence in the people, the foreign minister said that the common people and businesspeople of the country are happy with the various steps taken by the present government.

In response to another question, he said that if anyone tries to rig the next general election, the people will resist.

In response to a question about BNP's demand for elections under a caretaker government, the foreign minister said that the caretaker government is not in the constitution of Bangladesh and it is not a matter of discussion.

Mentioning that such legally prohibited matters will not be spared in any way, he said that everyone should be committed to conducting the upcoming general elections in a neutral, credible and fair and violence-free manner.