Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta assured Bangladesh's interim government today of his efforts to secure ASEAN's support for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.

"His excellency has assured us as an ASEAN member that he will try his best to make sure that ASEAN supports us in the Rohingya issues," Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said at a joint press conference at his office today after a bilateral meeting with Ramos.

"So, we discussed in detail how this can be achieved. How to make the international opinion go towards the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh back to Myanmar," he said.

The chief adviser said Ramos-Horta will be a strong support for Bangladesh.

Yunus said Timor-Leste is set to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) soon.

Earlier, Prof Yunus and the Timor-Leste president held "fruitful discussions" and shared their ideas to take the relations between the two countries to a new height.

They witnessed the signing of two instruments — MoU on bilateral consultations mechanism and an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders — to further strengthen the relations.

The two leaders had a tête-à-tête which was followed by a delegation-level meeting.

Earlier in the morning, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain met President Jose Ramos-Horta and discussed issues of mutual interest.

He was accorded a red carpet reception on his arrival to Dhaka last night on a four-day official visit.

The chief adviser received President Ramos-Horta at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 10:40pm yesterday.