Online Desk: 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.

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.