'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.