Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori has said he would prefer to refrain from commenting on Bangladesh’s upcoming election, calling it “an internal affair”.   “I would refrain from making any comments on this. It is an internal affair of Bangladesh,” he said when a journalist wanted to know Japan’s position on the subject after bilateral relationship was elevated to “strategic partnership” during PM Hasina’s recent official visit. Also Read: US calls upcoming national election an 'internal' affair of Bangladesh The ambassador was briefing media at the Japanese Embassy on Wednesday on the recent meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. Iwama Kiminori made the remark when during the briefing, a journalist referred to the previous Japanese ambassador’s comment in November last year. At the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Sheikh Hasina made an official visit to Japan and had a summit meeting on April 26. Read More: Bangladesh, Japan focusing on ‘comprehensive and targeted-oriented’ partnership: Ambassador

The US does not want to comment on Bangladesh’s forthcoming national election, noting that it is an “internal, domestic election.” “I don’t have anything else to get into that beyond as it’s an internal, domestic election,” Deputy Principal Spokesperson at US Department of State Vedant Patel has said. He came up with the remarks when a journalist wanted to know how the US would navigate a situation where, in Bangladesh, another party refuses to participate in a national election and may later claim it to be an “unfair and unjust election.” Read: Not endorsing one political party vs another in Bangladesh: US State Dept says Patel, however, said, as it relates to elections, US want them to be free and fair and to be reflective of the will of the Bangladeshi people. “I will say broadly, though, is that the US and Bangladesh last year celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations, and we look forward to continuing to deepen those relationships,” he said at a regular media briefing at the US Department of State on Monday. Patel said that Dhaka and Washington have a number of areas where they have the possibility for immense cooperation and engagement – whether that be climate change, whether that be the economy, addressing the humanitarian crisis, and other things as well. Read: US State Department ‘deeply concerned over use of Digital Security Act’