Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from six countries on the fringe of the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-48) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on August 6. At the meeting between Retno Marsudi and RoK Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, the two sides agreed to organise a meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation in December and discussed Indonesia’s request to grant its citizens visa exemptions when travelling to the RoK. Yun expressed his support for Indonesia’s proposal on maritime cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Talking with her Russian counterpart, Marsudi and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to boost cooperation in education, trade and investment while mentioning investment opportunities for infrastructure development, specifically the construction of seaports and airports in Kalimantan. Forging partnerships in combating terrorism and tackling money laundering were among the range of issues on the agenda. Lavrov also said Russia will consider granting visa exemptions for Indonesian nationals. Visa exemptions for Indonesians were also raised by Marsudi at a meeting with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini. The two sides agreed to organise annual bilateral meetings at the ministerial level. Minister Marsudi brought up the issue of counter-terrorism in her talk with Sartaj Aziz, a special security adviser to the Pakistani Prime Minister. The Pakistani official said the country will be more active in its cooperation activities with ASEAN. Also on August 6, Marsudi met with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who asked Indonesia to simplify procedures for Indian miners to enter the local mining industry. Meanwhile, the Indonesian FM and her Australian counterpart Julie Bishop, the two countries discussed preparations ahead of the Annual Leaders’ Meeting and Indonesia-Australia Dialogue later this year. Indonesia welcomed Australia’s plan to open a consulate in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The two ministers emphasised that they would continue to encourage people-to-people contact, including through scholarship grants under Australia’s New Colombo Plan.-VNA