Bot's visit strengthens bilateral ties<\/p>\n
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot's three-day visit to
\nIndonesia, which ended on Friday, has opened a new chapter in the
\nrelations between Jakarta and its former colonial master.<\/p>\n
Putting the past aside, the two countries agreed
\nto push their bilateral relationship to new heights.<\/p>\n
As a first step, The Netherlands extended its full support to
\nIndonesia's fight against terrorism.<\/p>\n
During a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan
\nWirayuda on Thursday, Bot pledged to provide five million euros
\nto help finance Indonesia's efforts to combat terrorism,
\nparticularly the activities of the Jakarta Center for Law
\nEnforcement Cooperation, an international counterterrorism school
\nbased in Semarang, Central Java.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands will also send a counterterrorism expert, Tom
\nGroten Heis, to train Indonesian officers at the school, which
\nalso trains police personnel from the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
The two countries also plan to hold a seminar on the
\nempowerment of moderate Islam, which Bot said was an important
\npart of fighting terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"We have explored how to strengthen the modern Islamic
\nboarding school system, among other things perhaps by enriching
\neducation by providing vocational training for students,\" Hassan
\nsaid after the meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
This gesture shows a break from the military approach of
\nWestern countries in combating terrorism in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
During a limited discussion at the Centre for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies in Jakarta, Bot said the fight against
\nterrorism must use both \"soft\" and \"tough\" approaches.<\/p>\n
He said such efforts should include talking to the extremists
\nas well as moderate Muslims, and communicating certain messages
\nto the people.<\/p>\n
The two foreign ministers also signed a memorandum of
\nunderstanding to renew and intensify bilateral cooperation. In
\naddition to meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Bot
\nalso met with presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
\nbefore flying home on Friday.<\/p>\n
The minister's visit was even more significant because the
\nNetherlands currently holds the presidency of the European Union
\n(EU). One of its most important tasks is ensuring the smooth
\nentry of 10 new EU members into the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), a
\ndiscussion forum on important issues of politics, economics and
\nsociocultural developments, and making sure the summit itself is
\nheld as scheduled. This year's meeting will be held in Hanoi in
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
Despite the controversy over Myanmar's participation in the
\nsummit, Bot expressed confidence the meeting would go ahead.<\/p>\n
While stressing that the EU-ASEAN relationship was more
\nimportant than an argument, Bot also expected the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations countries to show their goodwill in
\nensuring the meeting went ahead as scheduled.<\/p>\n
\"We would like to see some signals also from your side that
\nyou are trying to exert some pressure on Myanmar to improve his
\nhuman rights situation,\" he said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Bot acknowledged that the negotiations posed a difficult task
\nfor both the EU and ASEAN, but he was optimistic that his
\nSoutheast Asian counterparts would keep on with their efforts.<\/p>\n
He said a solution to the EU's participation in the ASEM
\nsummit was expected to be decided on during an informal meeting
\nnext week.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bots-visit-strengthens-bilateral-ties-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}