The two sides discussed various issues of bilateral interest and the issue of “sustainable” Rohingya repatriation, said the Foreign Ministry here.
The Indonesian foreign minister deeply appreciated the role of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for providing shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas.
She promised that her country will engage with Myanmar through all possible approaches and assured a greater support from the Asean platform in support of the repatriation.
FM meets D8 Secretary General
Secretary General of the D8 Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari called on the Bangladesh Foreign Minister at the same venue.
During the meeting, he briefed the foreign minister about various initiatives undertaken by the D8 – particularly in the fields of cooperation in the newly established Chamber of Commerce and Industry, technology and innovation, universal health care services and establishing FIZs (D8 Free Industrial Zones).
The D8 Secretary General also briefed the foreign minister about the upcoming D8 Summit which Bangladesh is going to host at the end of 2019.
FM meets Maldivian FM
Foreign Minister Dr Momen and Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid had another meeting when they discussed the Rohingya issue.
The two sides also discussed various other issues of bilateral interest.
Foreign Minister Dr Momen urged his Maldivian counterpart to exert all possible measures for engaging Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas to their rightful homeland in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
Among other areas, the two sides discussed women empowerment and gender mainstreaming.
Foreign Minister Dr Momen briefed the Maldivian foreign minister about the efforts and initiatives undertaken by the government of Bangladesh and in particular by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for engendering a gender sensitive perspective in all three areas of the state – the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.
He gave highlights of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s initiatives to ensure gender balance even at the grassroots politics and in the representative/elected bodies.
Later, the two sides discussed engaging more proactively in the field of Blue Economy – in particular for sustainable fishing and fisheries and also for tourism.
The Bangladesh foreign minister proposed to the Maldivian foreign minister to explore the possibility of exchanging experts in these two fields and synergise the developmental ambitions of the two countries and devise innovative measures to connect, innovate and leverage each other’s specific potentials and capabilities.
Abdulla Shahid deeply appreciated the proposals made by Momen and promised to look into the matter at the soonest.