The Deputy Minister Of Foreign Affairs Discusses The Improvement Of Bilateral Relations To Rohingya Refugees When Visiting Bangladesh

PM Ad Interim Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus when receiving Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Armanatha Nasir (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir discussed improving bilateral relations through trade, investment, energy, defense and socio-cultural cooperation between Indonesia and Bangladesh, when meeting with Prime Minister Ad Interim Professor Muhammad Yunus, during a working visit to the capital city of Dhaka on Tuesday.

"Jakarta is eager to deepen cooperation with Dhaka," said Deputy Foreign Minister Tata during a visit to the Bangladesh capital, launching a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday, June 4.

Furthermore, the two of them also discussed the importance of people-to-people contact, including strengthening cooperation in the tourism and education sectors, including additional scholarship recipients for students from Bangladesh who want to study in Indonesia.

"We need to be close friends," said Professor Yunus.

Regarding the issue of Rohingya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata underlined the importance of international efforts in responding to the prolonged humanitarian crisis, as well as tackling crimes against human smuggling and trafficking which are problems in the process of migrating Rohingya refugees to various countries in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Ad Interim Prime Minister Professor Muhammad Yunus revealed that he had visited Indonesia several times before holding his current position, and hoped for strengthening bilateral relations between Indonesia and Bangladesh based on the closeness of religious, historical and cultural backgrounds.

In this meeting, the two also discussed the hope of strengthening Bangladesh' cooperation with ASEAN.

In addition to meeting with Bangladesh's Ad Interim Prime Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister Tata also met Bangladeshi Foreign Advisor Md Touhid Hossain, and Ruhul Alam Siddique's Acting Foreign Secretary.

The meeting discussed strengthening the Indonesian-Bangladesh bilateral mechanism and various concrete cooperation between the two countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tata also met with Bangladesh Energy Advisor, Md. Fouzul Kabir Khan. The two discussed partnership proposals in LNG supply, coal imports, mass rapid transportation development and the rail industry.

On the occasion of this visit to Dhaka, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata also had a dialogue with the Head of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Ashik Chowdury, discussing various expansion potentials by Indonesian companies in Bangladesh.

The series of bilateral meetings of Deputy Foreign Minister Tata in Bangladesh closed with dialogue with the Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army.

The meeting discussed strengthening defense cooperation and the collaboration between Indonesia and Bangladesh in the UN peacekeeping mission. Bangladesh expressed hope to collaborate in the strategic industry and expressed interest in Indonesian aerospace products.

It is known that the working visit of Deputy Foreign Minister Tata to Dhaka for the visit of the High Economic Delegation (HLED) Indonesia to Bangladesh.

"The opportunity for cooperation between Indonesia and Bangladesh is very large. In the future, we need to echo "Made in Indonesia" and Made in Bangladesh as brands in areas known for their quality and innovation. Let's invest and support each other in economic growth with each other," concluded Deputy Foreign Minister Tata.