Golf diplomacy signals new era for Australia, Malaysia

Golf diplomacy signals new era for Australia, Malaysia

M. Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse/Patrajaya, Malaysia

Malaysia and Australia signaled a new era in a tetchy relationship on Thursday as their foreign ministers headed for the golf course and Canberra invited Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to visit.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer extended the invitation at a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar aimed at building ties strained under former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who retired last October.

It has been 20 years since a Malaysian premier made an official visit to Australia, when Mahathir met premier Bob Hawke in Canberra in 1984. Paul Keating was the last Australian leader to make an official trip to Malaysia, in January 1996.

The stakes for Australia go beyond bilateral relations, as Mahathir led resistance to Canberra's attempts to play a role in regional economic and political forums, dismissing the country as the "deputy sheriff" of the United States and not truly Asian.

Downer told a joint news conference with Syed Hamid after their talks: "It's good to be back here among friends and be working on building our relationship."

Asked specifically whether the change in the Malaysian leadership had made a difference, Downer replied: "I would not want to comment on the internal workings of Malaysian politics. We are working very successfully on building up the relationship."

Syed Hamid answered a similar question by saying the new prime minister "wants Malaysia to continue to have a very strong relationship with Australia".

Fighting terrorism and boosting economic ties dominated their 45-minute talks, along with Iraq, the Palestinian issue and the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos in November.

Australia and New Zealand will take part in the summit for the first time, against the background of discussions over a free trade area involving all the countries.

Downer said the war on terrorism remained a major concern in the region. "We certainly don't believe the game is over in terms of dealing with Jamaah Islamiyah (the regional terror group) in Indonesia," he said.

Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) was responsible for the Bali blasts in 2002 which killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists. Malaysia has detained without trial 75 men suspected of being JI members.

Downer, who will visit the new Southeast Asian Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, praised the Malaysian defense forces and police for their cooperation in fighting terrorists.

"The overall performance has been strong," he said.

To enhance bilateral cooperation, the two foreign ministers agreed to meet annually, alternating between Kuala Lumpur and Canberra, and also to launch an annual "security dialog" at the officials level.

On the controversial issue of the possible involvement of United States marines in patrolling the Malacca Strait to protect against terror attacks, Downer offered support to Malaysia's position that security was the responsibility of the coastal states.

"The focus has to be the role of the littoral states. Other countries maybe able to provide advice or assistance," he said.

Malaysia has repeatedly rejected the idea of U.S. involvement in the strait, a narrow waterway between Malaysia and Indonesia which carries a third of the world's trade and half its oil supplies, saying this would attract terrorist attacks rather than prevent them.

Downer will not meet Abdullah, who is on a personal visit to the United States, but will hold talks with his deputy, Najib Razak, who is also defense minister, on Friday.

Before that, however, he was due to play a round of golf together with Syed Hamid on Thursday afternoon.