Australia, Indonesia hope for security pact to strengthen ties
Australia, Indonesia hope for security pact to strengthen ties
Agencies, Canberra
Australia and Indonesia hope to strike a deal at the end of March to begin negotiating a security pact to strengthen ties and cooperate on counter-terrorism, their foreign ministers said on Friday.
The Indian Ocean neighbors have already started discussing the possibility of a security deal, could unveil plans to begin talks on a pact when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visits Australia in two weeks.
"I think the two leaders ... could endorse the idea and then ask the two foreign ministers to work on the draft agreement," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said after meeting his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer in Canberra.
"That would be a good achievement in the next two weeks," Hassan told a news conference.
Australia and Indonesia have often had a rocky relationship, especially after Australia led a UN-mandated intervention force into East Timor in 1999 to quell violence by pro-Indonesia militias after Timorese voted for independence from Jakarta.
Australia and Indonesia signed a security deal in 1995 that committed the countries to ministerial consultations about security, increasing cooperation and consultations in the event of a threat to either country or to regional security.
But the deal collapsed after Indonesia objected to Australia's involvement in East Timor, where more than 1,000 people were killed in fighting, with most deaths blamed on pro-Jakarta militias.
"(That treaty) was very limited in its contents. What we are contemplating with this new agreement are much broader areas of cooperation," Hassan said.
Wary of opposition by Indonesians to a pact, Downer said it would be made clear that both countries respected each others' "territorial integrity".
"I think if we keep working at (a security pact) we could put something together in months, not years," Downer said.
"We're looking to bring together areas of cooperation such as counter-terrorism, dealing with people-smuggling, cooperation between our respective police forces and cooperation between our defense forces."
Downer said the new agreement would be nothing like Australia's 54-year-old defense treaty with the United States.
"What we have both said to each other from the outset is we don't want a kind of security or a defense pact," he said.
Ties have improved in recent years and efforts to strengthen Australia's relationship with the world's most populous Muslim country gained momentum after Susilo became Indonesia's first directly elected president in October.
Australia and Indonesian police have worked closely after the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, and again since a car bomb exploded outside Australia's Jakarta embassy last September, killing 10 people.
Australian and Indonesian ministers met in Canberra for the seventh annual ministerial meeting between the two countries. Australia said it would provide Indonesia with A$5 million (US$4 million) to support local elections and A$2 million for anti- money laundering programs.
Indonesia's delegation urged Australia to lift official warnings that advise against travel to the archipelago because they were damaging the economy.
Other prickly issues such as illegal fishing in Australian waters and autonomy for the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Papua were also raised, while there was common ground on counter- terrorism, democratic reform in Indonesia and tsunami relief.
The travel advisories were strengthened after the Bali bombing to warn against non-essential travel to Indonesia and urge Australians in the country to exercise extreme caution because of an ongoing terrorist threat.
Canberra has refused to withdraw the advice in the face of repeated requests from Jakarta, most recently reissuing it on March 11.
The Australian ministers responded to the latest request by noting that government travel advisories remained under constant review.
"At the end of the day, we either have a travel advisory system that is honest and upfront or we don't have one at all," Downer said.
Indonesian Economic Minister Aburizal Bakrie said his ministers had also argued for freer access to visas for Indonesians who want to travel to Australia.
Australian ministers noted that 95 percent of applicants were granted visas and that issuing visas on arrival at Australian airports would pose security risks.