Dhaka, 12.03.19

Australian Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne has congratulated Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen on his appointment as Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.Australian High Commissioner Julia Niblett handed over the Letter of Congratulations to Abdul Momen while the High Commissioner paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister at his office today.  

Australian High Commissioner described Bangladesh-Australia relationship as warm, longstanding and constructive underpinned by education, energy cooperation and expanding trade and investment ties. Julia Niblett said Australia highly values cooperation of Bangladesh in addressing shared regional challenges like irregular migration and Rohingya crisis.

Foreign Minister deeply appreciated valuable support of Australia for Bangladesh since its independence. While appreciating Australia's humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas, Foreign Minister sought Australia’s active role for solution of the Rohingya crisis. Australian High Commissioner said Australia has taken into account the findings of UN fact finding mission on assessing accountability of crimes committed against the Rohingyas and underlined the importance of cessation of ongoing violence in Myanmar to create a conducive condition of return of the displaced people.

Expressing gratitude to High Commissioner for providing scholarship for students of Bangladesh to study in Australia, Foreign Minister requested to create a joint research mechanism for collaborative research to harness creativity and knowledge. Foreign Minister also requested to review the travel advisory of Australia on Bangladesh to facilitate more business interaction between the two countries.