Emphasis on bilateral ties back on foreign policy agenda

Emphasis on bilateral ties back on foreign policy agenda

Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda has
again underlined the importance of "a free and active" foreign
policy, set out for the first time by Indonesia's founding father
and first vice president Mohammad Hatta. In his interview with
The Jakarta Post, Hassan explains the relevance of such a free
and active policy, with an ultimate aim of restoring Indonesia's
international credibility and confidence.

JAKARTA (JP): What is a "free and active" foreign policy in
the 21st century?

That is one of the primary questions which senior diplomat N.
Hassan Wirayuda must answer as he settles into his new job as
Indonesia's new minister of foreign affairs.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri when appointing her Cabinet
this month, specifically restated the need for Indonesia to
pursue the basic policy for its foreign relations as laid down by
Mohammad Hatta over half a century ago.

In the Cold War era, "free and active" was identified as not
siding with any superpower, but not necessarily being neutral.

In an interview, Hassan said this was an erroneous precept as
a free and active foreign policy was a manifestation of
Indonesia's inherent character to uphold, as enshrined in the
constitution, order "based upon independence, abiding peace and
social justice."

Hassan says that whatever the global system, the economic
crisis faced by the country or century we live in, Indonesia's
basic foreign policy precepts remain very much relevant.

"Freedom that exists in the world is mostly just physical, but
it does not mean that people have the right to determine their
own political, economic and social cultural system," Hassan said.

Being free should mean that each country has the right to real
self-determination, which most countries theoretically have, but
not in real-life conditions, he said.

"Most developing countries have the right to determine their
system, theoretically perhaps, but not in practice. There are
still many countries that live under 'colonization'," he said.

"It is still relevant to pursue a free and active foreign
policy. It is our constitutional mandate because many countries
still live under the 'rule' of developed countries," he said.

A career diplomat, Hassan, who graduated from the Harvard
University Law School, served in Cairo and later Geneva as
permanent representative to the United Nations. His negotiating
skills were put to the test when he headed the government team in
negotiations with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last year.

Commenting on his new post, Hassan believes Indonesia would
play a balancing role between the developed and developing
countries in reaching the "new world economic order".

"We will play a constructive and to some extent moderating
role in creating that balance," he said.

He referred to dialogs between the wealthy nations of the
North and the poor countries of the South and the efforts to
forge unity and solidarity among Third World countries through
such forums as G-15 and G-77.

"We need a different approach now because as we all know, the
confrontational approach in the North-South dialogs had been
fruitless. We need to be more constructive," he said.

"The developed countries are reluctant to continue with such
dialogs because they feel that Third World countries want to
control them (through their control of economic resources)."

Hassan advocates a more realistic approach to foreign
relations, one that builds harmonious ties between developed and
developing states.

To support the country's ambitious role in bridging the
interests of developed and developing countries, Hassan said he
would restructure the foreign ministry starting early next year,
with each director general overseeing a certain region.

"With the new structure, each official will have more time to
focus on each region, encompassing all the economic and political
issues in those regions," the minister said.

Speaking on regionalism, Hassan said Indonesia would advocate
a change in the orientation of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) from an outward-looking organization into one
which was more inter-ASEAN.

He explained ASEAN was less solid now with four of its anchor
members -- Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines --
mired in economic hardships.

At the same time, ASEAN is saddled by problems of helping the
four newest members -- Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

"It will be very difficult to launch many initiatives with the
current fragile stability. Once we overcome the crisis, we can
make ASEAN more dynamic as it was before," he expressed
confidently.

On top of that, Indonesia should now concentrate on building
better bilateral relations with major countries, especially its
major trading partners.

Bilateral relations often contribute bigger benefits to the
country, in terms of economic gains.

"For more than 30 years we have been concentrating more on the
multilateral relations at the expense of bilateral relations. We
need to change that," he said.

After all, the country should reap the benefits of its foreign
policy. (Fabiola Desy Unidjaja)