<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">US Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya has discussed the "importance of free and fair" elections with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United States is committed to advancing democracy and free elections all over the world and, as a partner to Bangladesh, seeks to support PM Hasina’s public calls for free and fair elections in Bangladesh that are carried out in a peaceful manner, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on Friday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zeya met with Hasina on September 21 on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Honored to reconnect with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before co-hosting a high-level side event on the Rohingya crisis on the margins of UNGA78. We discussed the importance of free and fair elections, US-Bangladesh partnership, and US appreciation for Bangladesh’s continued generous hosting of 960,000 Rohingya refugees," Zeya wrote on X, formerly known as twitter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the meeting,&nbsp; Zeya thanked PM Hasina for the generosity of the Bangladeshi Government in their humanitarian assistance to nearly one million Rohingya refugees.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">US-Bangladeshi cooperation on this response is a powerful example of the partnership between the United States and Bangladesh, said the embassy. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>