Hasina Seeks Indonesia’s Help on Rohingya Crisis

PM Sheikh Hasina holds talks with President Joko Widodo.

Jakarta, 09 Jumadil Akhir 1438/08 March 2017 (MINA) – Resolving the Rohingya refugee crisis a big problem, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday 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,” gulf-times.com quoted the prime minister as saying at a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo held at Jakarta Convention Centre on the sidelines of the IORA Leaders’ Summit.

The Indonesian foreign minister recently visited Bangladesh and Myanmar to take account of the Myanmar refugee crisis, foreign ministry sources said in Dhaka yesterday.

Foreign secretary Shahidul Haque said co-operation in the areas such as railway, pharmaceutical and energy between Bangladesh and Indonesia also came up for discussions at the meeting.

The prime minister also invited the Indonesian President to visit Bangladesh.

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.

Bangladesh’s tremendous socio-economic development

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 development in the pharmaceutical sector, Hasina 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 collaboration between the two countries in the pharmaceutical sector.

Shahidul also said a discussion was held on possible co-operation 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 Mahmood Ali, PM’s principal secretary Kamal Chowdhury, and Bangladesh ambassador to Indonesia Azmal Kabir were also present at the meeting. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)