Indonesian President wants quick solution to Rohingya crisis
DHAKA: Visiting Indonesian president Joko Widodo has called for peaceful and quick solution to the Rohingya crisis.
The Indonesian president made the call during his official bilateral talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in Dhaka on Sunday (January 28).
Briefing reporters after the talks, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque informed that Joko Widodo said they want to quick solution of Rohingya crisis against the backdrop of the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The Indonesian President lauded Bangladesh government for allowing lakhs of Rohingya refugees in the country. He extended special appreciation to the government of Sheikh Hasina for sheltering over one million of Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar.
Joko Widodo assured that Indonesia will continue its role to end of the Rohiongya crisis as Jakarta earlier had taken a stance in favour of the Rohingyas at the UN and its Human Rights Council.
The foreign secretary said that the tour of Indonesian President to Bangladesh and Cox's Bazar to see for himself the plight and sufferings of the Rohingyas is certainly a huge issue. “The visit will create a pressure on the Myanmar government,” he said.
During the bilateral talks, the two sides recognized that there are huge potentials on trade and investment as well as strengthening cooperation on other important sectors. Both the sides agreed to launch talks on the issue of preferential trade agreement to take forward business activities and explained that once the agreement is signed, Indonesia would offer special concession to Bangladeshi commodities to be exported there.
Sheikh Hasina in the meeting urged the Indonesian side to make investment in Bangladesh's Special Economic Zones. Joko Widodo assured the Prime Minister of extending Indonesia's support for Bangladesh's willingness to be sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN.
