TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Foreign Minister Retno arrives in Dhaka for diplomatic marathon
Change Size
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (front left) arrives for a meeting with foreign ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a hotel in Yangon, Myanmar, on Dec. 19. (AP/Thein Zaw)
A
fter attending a meeting with ASEAN top diplomats in Yangon, Myanmar, on Monday, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi continued her trip to Dhaka for bilateral talks with her Bangladeshi counterpart.
“I just arrived from Yangon and will make my way to Dhaka to meet with the Bangladesh foreign minister tomorrow [Tuesday] morning," Retno told The Jakarta Post in a statement on transit in Bangkok on Monday evening.
The minister was in Yangon for a historic ASEAN retreat to discuss the latest developments in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state, which has drawn international ire due to the heavy-handed military campaign against the Rohingya minority in the area following deadly attacks on border police in October.
More than 27,000 from the Muslim minority group have fled northwestern Myanmar for Bangladesh since the start of November to escape the counterinsurgency campaign.
(Read also: ASEAN resolves to respond to Rakhine crisis)
After gaining reassurances from Myanmar State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi regarding the situation in Rakhine, Retno had further discussions on the Rohingya in a brief tête-à-tête with the country's de facto leader, before setting off for Dhaka to meet Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali.
In addition to covering bilateral issues between Indonesia and Bangladesh, Tuesday’s meeting will also focus on the importance of maintaining good Myanmar-Bangladesh relations.
Increased efforts to maintain good ties and communication between the two countries would contribute positively to a resolution of the long-standing problem in Rakhine state, Retno said.
“Good ties between Myanmar and Bangladesh is key to managing the issue of refugees at the Myanmar-Bangladesh border,” she asserted. (hwa)
