Dhaka: Apparently inviting her arch rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to end their rivalries, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday stressed maintaining social relations by political parties for the greater good of the country.

‘Our country is very potential and resourceful one. We all need to work together for its progress. To make that happen, we'll need to forget who is what,’ she said.

The BNP chief came forth after the exchange of greetings with eminent citizens and diplomats marking the Eid-ul-Fitr at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the city.

The former Prime Minister said, ‘Political parties will be there in politics. But it can't be the practice that politicians won't see each other's face. We could have family and social ties.’

The chiefs of the country's two major political parties–Hasina of the ruling Awami League and Khaleda of BNP–greet each other only during two Eids and Pahela Baishakh, but avoid each other when there comes opportunities to personally meet or exchange pleasantries.

They also swapped Eid cards this time, too. The two leaders also invited each other to their respective iftar parties hosted for politicians during this Ramadan, but they skipped those as always.

Mentioning that political parties should not pursue violence, killing and confrontations, Khaleda said her party's ideal and aim are to restore peace, development and democracy in the country.

She said they want the rule of law to be maintained in the country so that culprits get punished and innocent people do not fall victims to injustice. ‘But now there's no rule of law.’

BNP standing committee members and other senior leaders were present at the function.

On the occasion, Khaleda exchanged pleasantries with the heads of diplomatic missions in Dhaka from 11:30am to 12:15pm, and later with eminent citizens from 12:15pm to 1:15pm.