<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">As founding members of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, Bangladesh and Australia have expressed concerns about the loss of life and exploitation of vulnerable people such as the Rohingyas, including women and children, at the hands of transnational criminal networks.&nbsp;</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Australian Minister Penny Wong noted that the Commander of Australia’s Maritime Border Command will visit Bangladesh to further discuss these issues.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Australian Minister and her Bangladesh counterpart Hasan Mahmud agreed on the importance of safe migration pathways in the region to curb irregular and unsafe migration patterns.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Noting the growth in the Bangladesh diaspora in Australia and the contributions made by the two peoples to deepening the bilateral relationship, the ministers affirmed the importance of preservation and promotion of arts and culture, and committed to signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Arts and Culture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong held their first ministerial dialogue on Tuesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers noted the warm bilateral relationship founded on more than fifty years of diplomatic relations and deepening friendship.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They recognised that high-level visits at the political level can help take the relationship to further new heights, according to a joint statement issued on Wednesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers recalled the constructive, positive bilateral discussions held at the Indian Ocean Conference in Perth in February 2024, following those during the Indian Ocean Conference in Dhaka in 2023.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They noted ongoing collaboration and cooperation in regional and multilateral fora, including the Indian Ocean Rim Association and at the United Nations.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They appreciated the growing strategic depth and dimensions of the bilateral relations.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They noted the commonalities between Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook, the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s Indo-Pacific Outlook and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo Pacific.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They reaffirmed their shared vision and desire to work towards a region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, inclusive and free from intimidation, interference and coercion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers acknowledged the importance of building regional health security, promoting demographic resilience, enhancing multi-modal connectivity, and strengthening clean energy supply chains.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They agreed on the importance of promoting open channels of communication and confidence-building measures to reduce the risk of conflict in the region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers reaffirmed their support for sovereignty and territorial integrity in the Indo Pacific, democratic values, human rights, freedom of navigation and overflight, and the peaceful resolution of disputes.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>