REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesia is seeking to cooperate with Sri Lanka to tackle human smuggling, according to Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa.

"Both Indonesia and Sri Lanka face the same problem. We believe that the two countries are ready to put an end to the issue of human smuggling under the aegis of the international forum, Bali Process," Natalegawa stated, following a closed-door meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Gamini Lakshman Peiris, on Monday.

At the meeting, Natalegawa and Peiris discussed the question of human smuggling as both nations consistently send migrant workers abroad, the Indonesian minister noted. He further said that to prevent and overcome human smuggling, Indonesia needs to cooperate with other countries, such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India and Australia, which face the same problem.

"We will cooperate with Sri Lanka to solve the issue of human smuggling, the smuggling of people to Australia for instance," Natalegawa affirmed.