Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said her government successfully resolved the ethnic problems in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) through talks without any third-party mediation.

She made the remarks when former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga met her at her official residence Ganobhaban.

PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

Sheikh Hasina, also President of Awami League, and Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Chairman of Sri Lanka Freedom Party, shared their political experiences as both the parties have many commonalities.

They also discussed various matters relating to mutual interests.

Hasina informed Chandrika of various aspects of Bangladesh society, saying people irrespective of their religious belief have been living here peacefully and together participating in every festival.

Founders of both AL and Sri Lanka Freedom Party—Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Solomon Bandarnaike respectively—had brutally been assassinated and both the parties had been subjected to repression and torture by opponent parties.

PM’s International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi and PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum were present.

Chandrika Kumaratunga arrived in Dhaka on May 21 on a four-day visit to Bangladesh to join a programme of London-based Global Leadership Foundation.