Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta has assured Bangladesh's interim government of his efforts to secure ASEAN’s support for the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

“And his excellency has assured us as an ASEAN member that he will try his best to make sure that ASEAN supports us in the Rohingya issues,” Dr Yunus said  at a joint press conference at his office on Sunday after a bilateral meeting with Ramos . 

“So, we discussed in detail how this can be achieved. How to make the international opinion go towards the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh back to Myanmar,” he said.

Timor-Leste President seeks to boost trade ties with Bangladesh

The Chief Adviser said Ramos-Horta will be a strong support for Bangladesh.

Dr Yunus said Timor-Leste is set to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) soon. 

Earlier, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and Timor-Leste President held "fruitful discussions" and shared their ideas to take the relations between the two countries to a new height.

They witnessed the signing of two instruments -- MoU on bilateral consultations mechanism and agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders -- to further strengthen the relations.

The two leaders had a tete-a-tete which was followed by a delegation-level meeting.

CA Yunus, Timor-Leste President hold fruitful meeting, eye closer ties

Earlier in the morning, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain met President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta and discussed issues of mutual interest.

He was on Saturday night accorded a red carpet reception on his arrival here on a four-day official visit.

The Chief Adviser received President Ramos-Horta at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on his arrival around 10:40pm.