Downer to visit Jakarta next month to fix strained ties

Downer to visit Jakarta next month to fix strained ties

Associated Press, Canberra

Following recent tensions between Jakarta and Canberra, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Thursday he would go to Indonesia in December to pave the way for a leaders meeting.

Re-elected for a third term at parliamentary elections last Saturday, Prime Minister John Howard has signaled he is keen to repair the strained relationship with Jakarta.

"I think the Indonesians feel now the election is out of the way, the nature of the Australian government is clearly settled," Downer told television's Nine Network.

"They'll look to take the relationship forward with us," he said.

Ties with Jakarta became strained in late August after Australia adopted a tough new policy of refusing entry to asylum seekers, most of whom set off from Indonesia.

The opposition Labor Party and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda accused Howard of botching relations.

Wirayuda said Howard had a tendency to publicly criticize Jakarta instead of engaging in quiet diplomacy, naming the issues of asylum seekers and Indonesia's lukewarm support for the U.S. campaign against terrorism as two recent examples.

After refusing to meet with Howard at a Pacific rim leaders meeting in October, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri wrote to Howard this week to congratulate him on his election victory and urge stronger ties.

Downer said Australia's ambassador to Jakarta had been making the rounds of ministerial offices this week ahead of his visit.

"The response we've been getting has been very positive," he said.

A key issue in talks between the two countries will be forging an agreement to stem the people smuggling trade which operates out of Indonesia, loading asylum seekers from the Middle East and Afghanistan into boats bound for Australia.