'First steps' taken to rebuild Australia-RI relations: Downer
'First steps' taken to rebuild Australia-RI relations: Downer
MACAU (AFP): The "first steps" to restoring relations between Australia and Indonesia have been taken on the sidelines of Macau's handover ceremony, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Monday.
At a press conference here, Downer said he held a "cordial" and "successful" meeting with his Indonesian opposite number Alwi Shihab, the first since ties plummeted this summer following the East Timor crisis.
"We have taken the first steps in the task of rebuilding of political relations with Indonesia," Downer told reporters.
"There was a positive atmosphere, a real commitment on both sides. Both states recognize the importance of the two countries to each other, they need a good relationship back on track," he said.
"Mr Shihab made it clear that was what he wanted to do and we made it clear."
Downer added he would be making an official visit to Indonesia early in the New Year to attempt to further improve ties with Australia's neighbor.
"That will be the second significant step that we will be taking in the reconstruction of our political relations," he said.
Bilateral ties nosedived after Jakarta perceived Canberra as being overzealous and being insensitive to Indonesia's own situation during the East Timor affair.
Relations soured further after Australia was appointed to lead the UN-sanctioned International Force for East Timor which was deployed in the territory on Sept. 20.
Earlier this month Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Canberra's attitude towards Jakarta was "childish."
Downer also told reporters he met East Timor's independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao and the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor Sergio Vieira de Mello.
He commented that de Mello had restored previously rocky relations between the East Timorese and non-governmental aid groups, whom the local population had accused of acting without consultation.