Howard sees stronger ties with RI
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not wait until his inauguration on Wednesday to meet with visiting world leaders to discuss bilateral ties.
Amid a hectic schedule on Tuesday, Susilo held separate talks with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, newly reelected Australian Prime Minister John Howard and a special envoy from Japan. The meetings took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Central Jakarta.
Each meeting lasted about 30 minutes, and Susilo's spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said "no issues were discussed in detail".
In the first ever bilateral talks between Susilo and Howard, the Australian prime minister highlighted cooperation in the areas of the economy and the war on terror.
Australian citizens and interests have been targeted in several terrorist attacks in Indonesia over the past few years, with the latest incident a bombing in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September that killed 10 people.
Two years earlier, 88 Australian nationals were among the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings.
Regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah has been blamed for both attacks.
Speaking after meeting with Susilo, Howard predicted that ties between his country and neighboring Indonesia under Susilo would improve.
"He (Susilo) certainly is an impressive man," Howard said as quoted by AP. "I think the relationship will strengthen under his leadership. I believe he has a store of goodwill to Australia."
Howard will join Bolkiah and other regional leaders, including the prime ministers of Malaysia, East Timor and Singapore, at Wednesday's inauguration of Susilo, the first Indonesian president to be elected directly.
In comments to Metro TV prior to his departure for Jakarta, Howard also backed away from preelection comments in which he said Australia had the right to launch preemptive attacks on terrorist cells in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
"I wouldn't envisage that would occur in relation to Indonesia," he said.
Dino said that during Tuesday's meeting, Susilo proposed the establishment of an Australia-Indonesia forum to improve bilateral ties across various fields. The first meeting of the forum could take place in the near future, but Dino would not go into detail.
Special envoy Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, meanwhile, discussed with Susilo the expansion of Japanese investment in Indonesia. A large portion of foreign investment here comes from Japan.
"Japan also proposed the immediate formation of a forum to boost economic, social and cultural cooperation. It would comprise senior officials from both countries," Dino said.
Susilo plans to break the fast with Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday evening before announcing his Cabinet lineup.