Foreign Minister urges his Indonesian counterpart to grant VOA to Bangladeshis

Dhaka : Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen urged the current Chair of ASEAN Indonesia to grant visa on arrival to Bangladeshis at entry points of the country. In addition, he stressed the necessity of direct air connectivity between Bangladesh and Indonesia.

He made the call at a bilateral meeting with Retno LP Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, during his recent three-day visit to Jakarta to attend the 30th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), said the Foreign Ministry in a release on July 18.

The Foreign Minister also urged Indonesia to play more proactive role by involving ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance to expedite the speedy, safe dignified and voluntary repatriation of the forcibly displaced people to Myanmar.

The Foreign Minister apprised his Indonesian counterpart about the current progress of bilateral engagement on Rohingya repatriation.

Momen also solicited strong support of Indonesia by influencing other ASEAN Member States to make consensus in favour of Bangladesh's candidacy for attaining Sectoral Dialogue Partner (SDP) status of ASEAN in next ASEAN Summit to be held in September 2023.

Furthermore, he invited Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time.