The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has signed a letter of framework of cooperation with the Australian Government in Canberra, focusing on bolstering cooperation in the political, humanitarian and science and technology fields. The Secretary General, on an official visit to Australia to strengthen relations between the OIC and Australia, also met during the weekend its Prime Minister Julia Gillard. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the current situations in Syria and Palestine and the possible ways and means of enhancing OIC-Australia ties. On the issue of Palestine, Ihsanoglu solicited Australia's support for establishing the Palestinian state and commended it for its development aid to Palestine especially in the areas of state institutional building and infrastructure, according to a latest press release of the OIC. Ihsanoglu then met with the Australian Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, with whom he signed the letter of the framework agreement. Ihsanoglu highlighted that both sides can increase their cooperation in the economic, political and humanitarian areas as well as in the promotion of good governance, human rights and counter terrorism. He stressed on the importance of implementing joint projects for OIC's least developed countries in the domain of health and in providing scholarships for higher education. For his part, the Foreign Minister expressed Australia's keenness to strengthen bilateral relations with the OIC and its willingness to widen the cooperation to include all areas of mutual concern as stipulated in the framework agreement.
