Sources said BNP leaders told the delegation that according to the constitutional framework there is no scope to defer the poll date beyond the stipulated 90 days.

The envoys, however, did not express any opinion to the BNP leaders.

British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury, who led the delegation, also did not make any comment while talking to reporters after the meeting at the BNP election office at Banani. "It was a private conversation and we have agreed not to comment," he said.

At a press briefing after the meeting, former foreign minister M Morshed Khan said the foreign diplomats wanted to know about the constitutional process.

The meeting also discussed the extent of constitutional obligation in holding the election within the time stipulated in the constitution, he said.

"The diplomats also wanted to know our party's stand on the existing problems," Morshed told reporters.

Asked if the diplomats discussed rescheduling of the election, Morshed, who is also an adviser to the BNP chairperson, said the diplomats described the issue as an internal affair of Bangladesh.

"The diplomats neither asked to defer nor to move forward the election date. They said it is a matter of Bangladesh and they do not want to interfere in it," Morshed told reporters, adding that the diplomats said they are just stakeholders and want to see Bangladesh marching forward under a constitutional framework.

The delegation also included French Ambassador Jacques-Andre Costilhes, Canadian High Commissioner Barbara Richardson, Australian High Commissioner Douglas Foskett, and envoys from Germany, Norway, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, and representatives from the UNDP and other donor agencies.

BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mahbub Uddin Ahmad, another adviser to the BNP chairperson, Reaz Rahman, Mir Nasir Uddin, and Joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan accompanied Bhuiyan during the meeting.