Bot's visit strengthens bilateral ties
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot's three-day visit to Indonesia, which ended on Friday, has opened a new chapter in the relations between Jakarta and its former colonial master.
Putting the past aside, the two countries agreed to push their bilateral relationship to new heights.
As a first step, The Netherlands extended its full support to Indonesia's fight against terrorism.
During a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda on Thursday, Bot pledged to provide five million euros to help finance Indonesia's efforts to combat terrorism, particularly the activities of the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation, an international counterterrorism school based in Semarang, Central Java.
The Netherlands will also send a counterterrorism expert, Tom Groten Heis, to train Indonesian officers at the school, which also trains police personnel from the Asia-Pacific region.
The two countries also plan to hold a seminar on the empowerment of moderate Islam, which Bot said was an important part of fighting terrorism.
"We have explored how to strengthen the modern Islamic boarding school system, among other things perhaps by enriching education by providing vocational training for students," Hassan said after the meeting on Thursday.
This gesture shows a break from the military approach of Western countries in combating terrorism in Southeast Asia.
During a limited discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, Bot said the fight against terrorism must use both "soft" and "tough" approaches.
He said such efforts should include talking to the extremists as well as moderate Muslims, and communicating certain messages to the people.
The two foreign ministers also signed a memorandum of understanding to renew and intensify bilateral cooperation. In addition to meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Bot also met with presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before flying home on Friday.
The minister's visit was even more significant because the Netherlands currently holds the presidency of the European Union (EU). One of its most important tasks is ensuring the smooth entry of 10 new EU members into the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), a discussion forum on important issues of politics, economics and sociocultural developments, and making sure the summit itself is held as scheduled. This year's meeting will be held in Hanoi in October.
Despite the controversy over Myanmar's participation in the summit, Bot expressed confidence the meeting would go ahead.
While stressing that the EU-ASEAN relationship was more important than an argument, Bot also expected the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries to show their goodwill in ensuring the meeting went ahead as scheduled.
"We would like to see some signals also from your side that you are trying to exert some pressure on Myanmar to improve his human rights situation," he said in an interview.
Bot acknowledged that the negotiations posed a difficult task for both the EU and ASEAN, but he was optimistic that his Southeast Asian counterparts would keep on with their efforts.
He said a solution to the EU's participation in the ASEM summit was expected to be decided on during an informal meeting next week.