New govt to improve Australia ties<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is looking to mend ties
\nbetween Jakarta and Canberra, which have been strained since
\nAustralia led a multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor in
\n1999.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday
\nthat his office was looking into the possibility of Susilo making
\nhis first foreign bilateral visit to Australia.<\/p>\n
\"We have to pay attention to our neighbor to the southeast ...
\nwe have to give Australia priority,\" Hassan said after
\naccompanying the President in a meeting with East Timor's Prime
\nMinister Mari Alkatiri.<\/p>\n
He did not say when the visit would take place, but hinted
\nthat it could take place soon after Susilo's first 100 days in
\noffice.<\/p>\n
\"The President has said that he will not take any bilateral
\nvisits outside Indonesia (so he could focus on domestic issues)
\nduring his first 100 days,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Bilateral relations between Jakarta and Canberra were put to
\nthe test during and after Australia led a multinational
\npeacekeeping force in East Timor to end widespread violence in
\nthe immediate aftermath of that country's independence referendum
\nin 1999 after the Indonesian military was not able to curb the
\nbloodshed.<\/p>\n
While Australian Prime Minister John Howard has made at least
\nfive visits to Jakarta since 2000, only once has an Indonesian
\nleader, former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, made an
\nofficial visit to Australia.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur visited Australia just one month before he was
\nimpeached by the People's Consultative Assembly in July 2001.<\/p>\n
Hassan said Indonesia appreciated Howard's attendance at the
\ninauguration of Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
Howard was one of five heads of government of neighboring
\ncountries that attended Susilo's inauguration on Wednesday. The
\nother four were Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
\nSingaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei Sultan
\nHassanal Bolkiah and East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.<\/p>\n
Howard was the first head of state to hold bilateral talks
\nwith Susilo, earlier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Australia remains one of the country's main trading partners,
\nwith Indonesia enjoying a surplus of US$375 million in the first
\nhalf of 2004 alone.<\/p>\n
Hassan said his office had recommended that his former boss
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri pay a state visit to Australia, but it
\nnever occurred for various reasons.<\/p>\n
\"We had set definite dates for the visits twice, but they
\nfailed to materialize due to a hectic campaign schedule for
\nformer president Megawati,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hassan was reappointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs by
\nSusilo, who was also Megawati's former coordinating minister for
\npolitical and security affairs.<\/p>\n
Aside from the bilateral visit after the first 100 days,
\nSusilo is slated to attend the multilateral conferences, the
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Chile and the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos next
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
\"He has confirmed his attendance to the two Summits,\" Hassan
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-govt-to-improve-australia-ties-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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