Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud has met Riyad al-Maliki, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, on the sidelines of the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Kampala, Uganda. Palestine Foreign Minister fondly recalled Bangabandhu’s unflinching support for the Palestine cause and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for carrying forward his legacy and firmly standing by the people of Palestine at this critical moment, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday. Every country should take its responsibilities towards refugees very seriously: David Cameron Hasan Mahmud assured Foreign Minister al-Maliki of the continued support of the government and people of Bangladesh. Underscoring the profound need for a lasting and permanent solution to the Palestine issue, Hasan Mahmud committed to continue to extend necessary diplomatic and legal support and further humanitarian assistance to our brothers and sisters of Palestine. Dhaka, Delhi ties growing from strength to strength: Jaishankar Hasan Mahmud led the Bangladesh delegation to the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that ended on Sunday. He will also lead the third South Summit of the G77 and China scheduled to be held on January 21-22. FM Hasan holds bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Nepal, Botswana, Belarus, Qatar, Indonesia Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Muhammad A Muhith and Bangladesh High Commissioner to Kenya and Uganda among others are accompanying the Foreign Minister.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud said on Thursday that as  the left leaning parties don't have noticeable voters it won't affect the elections whether they boycott the elections or not. “I respect my leftist brothers as they are pro-liberation forces, and socialism is also one of the main pillars of our party. For this, I also support many issues coming from them. But, it is a sheer truth that they have no public support. So, there is no impact on whether the leftist parties are joining the poll or not”, he said. The minister made the remarks while talking to journalists at his secretariat on Thursday afternoon. Awami League comes to power to serve: Law Minister He also said that the BNP recruited some Jewish agents to spread falsehood against the January 7 election after being rejected by the people. “People have rejected the BNP’s call of resisting the poll. Now they are urging to boycott the election and have recruited some Jewish agents including David Bergman to make the election questionable,” he said. “The BNP-recruited lobbyists are writing articles in different foreign newspapers. But there is no benefit of their evil motive,” he said, adding that Begum Khaleda Zia also had written article in a US newspaper by her name against the country. Sheikh Hasina does not care about threat from foreign powers: Quader The information minister said it is nothing new as the BNP can do anything against the country. Even they wrote articles forging the signatures of congressmen and presenting a fake US president’s advisor before the nation, he said. He said the BNP also had spread propaganda that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah phoned them. By doing this the BNP has made itself “a fraud party”, he noted. He also said that the countrymen are now rlrction-oriented and the election will be held in a free, fair and festive mood. Awami League president Sheikh Hasina to address nation this evening The European Union, the US, SAARC countries, OIC and other countries have already sent their observers to monitor the polls. “It actually proves that this election has been widely accepted by the international communities,” he said. “The BNP's anti-election campaign is baseless.”

The BNP-Jamaat attempted to cause major chaos in Dhaka in the name of a mass procession, but they were thwarted by the resoluteness of AL leaders and activists, according to Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud. The AL leader made the remarks while speaking with reporters at his Chattogram residence on Saturday. “Nevertheless, Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's main ally, attacked police officers. They failed due to the police force's patience,” he said. “Actually, on December 10, BNP realized that the majority of people are not on their side. They have been disappointed since then. That is why they are attempting to cause mayhem. Their politics is entirely based on deceit,” he went on. He also said that the BNP has adopted the policy of bootlicking foreigners and expects officials from various states or embassies to speak on their behalf. That didn't help either, added the minister. Hasan Mahmud said the BNP’s politics revolves around causing chaos. “That will not be tolerated by the people of the country”. Read more: Simultaneous Movement: 33 opposition parties set to take out mass processions in city He also stated that BNP set cars on fire on December 10th and will do so again if given the chance. Mentioning that he dealt with the sabotage of BNP in 2013–15, he also said, “We know what BNP wants to do and how much they can do. We also know how to handle it."   The BNP and 32 other like-minded opposition parties staged a procession of showdowns Friday in different parts of the capital, by way of the first joint programme in what is being billed as a collective movement to take down the incumbent government and set the stage for free and fair elections. They also separately announced sit-in programmes across the country on January 11 as their next course of action, to press home their 10-point demand, including the resignation of the current government and formation of a polls-time caretaker government.   Read more: Simultaneous Movement: Ganatantra Mancha brings out mass procession in Dhaka BNP brought out a massive procession from in front of the party’s Nayapaltan area. It ended at Moghbazar after parading different roads through Bijoynagar, Kakrail, Shantinagar and Malibagh intersections.

Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar met Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud in New Delhi on Tuesday and discussed various issues of mutual interest. They noted the steady progress in bilateral relations across all domains, and also discussed the media and public perceptions in that regard.