Megawati congratulates Lee, hopes for better relations<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri congratulated on Thursday new
\nSingaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and expressed hope his
\ngovernment would work to improve bilateral relations between
\nthe two countries.<\/p>\n
\"President Megawati sent the letter yesterday (Thursday) and
\nexpressed the hope that the two countries could strengthen their
\nties,\" Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Hassan said he had also congratulated new Singaporean
\nMinister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo on his appointment
\nto Lee's cabinet.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully many pending issues between the neighboring
\ncountries will be addressed soon,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Lee was installed as the new leader of the city state,
\nreplacing Goh Chok Thong on Thursday. Known as BG Lee, he is
\nthe son of former first prime minister and national icon Lee Kuan
\nYew.<\/p>\n
\"We have several pending issues with Singapore, including a
\nextradition treaty process and the planned establishment of joint
\nbilateral commission, which we must discuss,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
The government has been pushing Singapore to move forward on
\nthe signing of an extradition treaty with Indonesia. Many
\nIndonesians accused of committing fraud amounting to billions of
\nrupiah here have sought refuge in the state.<\/p>\n
However, the process had yet to move forward as Singapore has
\nshown reluctance to sign the treaty.<\/p>\n
The two countries also have to resolve their common sea
\nboundaries and a sand exporting dispute, thorny issues that have
\nstrained bilateral relations.<\/p>\n
While both Indonesia and Singapore are founding members of
\nthe Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), relations
\nbetween the two neighbors have been especially rocky recently.<\/p>\n
In the global campaign against terrorism, the two countries
\nwere often at odds -- with Singapore accusing Indonesia of being
\ntoo weak on cracking down on suspected terrorists, while
\nIndonesia called Singapore's approach unnecessarily
\nauthoritarian.<\/p>\n
Hassan said Indonesia was optimistic that Singapore's new
\ngovernment would take a different approach in addressing issues
\nof conflict with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We are always optimistic that Singapore will pay more
\nattention to these issues and hope to see a new approach to
\nsettle them,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
He stressed Indonesia considered Singapore an important
\nneighbor and said he wished to see better bilateral relations in
\nthe future.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/megawati-congratulates-lee-hopes-for-better-relations-1447893297",
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