Terming the Myanmar refugee crisis a big problem, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged the Indonesian government to play a role in repatriating the Myanmar refugees from Bangladesh.
“The Myanmar refugee issue is a big problem for Bangladesh and it needs to be resolved,” the Prime Minister said at a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo held at Jakarta Convention Centre on the sidelines of the IORA Leaders’ Summit.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said the Indonesian Foreign Minister recently visited Bangladesh and Myanmar to take account of the Myanmar refugee crisis.
Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim and Secretary (Maritime Unit) of Foreign Ministry Rear Admiral (retd) M Khorshed Alam were present at the briefing.
Shahidul said the issues of cooperation on railway, pharmaceutical and energy sectors between Bangladesh and Indonesia also came up for discussions at the meeting.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister invited the Indonesian President to visit Bangladesh at his convenient time which he cordially accepted.
Widodo told Hasina that a ministry-level delegation will visit Bangladesh within two months to set the agenda of his visit after discussions with Bangladesh officials.
“We’re hopeful that the visit of the Indonesian President to Bangladesh will take place by this year,” the Foreign Secretary said.
Mentioning that his country has made great strides in the railway sector, the Indonesian President said they want to make contributions to the development of Bangladesh’s railway sector.
At this point, the Prime Minister expressed her satisfaction over the supply of 250 railway carriages by Indonesia to Bangladesh.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s huge development in the pharmaceutical sector, she said it is now exporting world class medicines to over 70 countries, including the United States and the European Union.
Widodo underscored the need for joint collaboration between the two countries in the pharmaceutical sector.
Shahidul also said a discussion was held on possible cooperation in the field of Liquefied natural gas (LNG) as Indonesia produces and exports the natural gas.
He said the Indonesian President highly appreciated Bangladesh’s tremendous socioeconomic development under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Bangladesh Ambassador to Indonesia Major General Azmal Kabir were, among others, present at the meeting.
source:UNB
