Dutch foreign minister to attend RI Independence Day celebrations
Dutch foreign minister to attend RI Independence Day celebrations
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot will arrive in Jakarta on
Tuesday to attend the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary
of Indonesia's proclamation of independence, and spice up
relations with the world's largest Muslim country, the Dutch
Embassy said.
"Our Foreign Minister will meet his Indonesian counterpart,
Minister Hassan Wirayuda, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, he
will attend Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations at the
Presidential Palace," the Dutch Embassy's first secretary, Usha
Gopie, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The Netherlands was the former colonial master of Indonesia.
After 60 years, the Dutch foreign minister is now attending as a
special guest at the independence day celebrations. Indonesia
proclaimed its independence on Aug. 17, 1945.
Bot, who was born in Batavia (the former name for Jakarta),
has been carrying on a diplomatic offensive, especially through
his frequent visits to Jakarta, since last year to forge a strong
relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Dutch Ambassador Ruud Treffers also said that strengthening
relations with Indonesia was a priority for the Dutch government.
"Strengthening our political relations with Indonesia is a
priority. We support Indonesia's unity and integrity," Treffers
previously told the Post.
Usha said Minister Bot would attend the opening of a
cultural exhibition titled "Shared Cultural Heritage of Indonesia
and the Netherlands" on Thursday. The exhibition, at the National
Museum in Jakarta, will be formally opened by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.
The exhibition, according to a Dutch Embassy press release ,
will feature 300 significant items, both archaeological and
anthropological in nature, from the National Museum in Jakarta
and the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (National Museum of
Ethnology) in Leiden, the Netherlands These two museums have the
largest and finest collections of Indonesian artifacts in the
world.
" The exhibition presents the history of the collection and
distribution of the Indonesian heritage brought together by the
Batavian Society," the press release, which was sent to the Post
on Saturday, said.
Among the items to be displayed in the exhibition are six
large sculptures from the Singasari period (13th century),
important gold finds and palace treasures from Sulawesi, Lombok
and Bali; unique ethnographic items from East and West Indonesia,
including New Guinea, and the recently discovered Wonoboyo gold
hoard.
After Jakarta, the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam will host the
exhibition, which will be opened on Dec. 17, 2005.