Indonesia's diplomacy

President Megawati Soekarnoputri made a rare and surprising display of her acumen in international diplomacy this weekend when she acted as a go-between for the leaders of North Korea and South Korea. The occasion was presented as Megawati visited Pyongyang and Seoul, which form part of her tour of Asia that also includes China and India. While these visits are essentially intended to enhance bilateral ties with the host countries, she could not escape the international demands placed on her to play a role in the search for peace in the Korean peninsula.

For a new leader with little exposure to the complexity of international diplomacy, Megawati has more than lived up to expectation, certainly judging by her performance in North Korea.

In Pyongyang on Friday, she used friendly persuasion to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to resume talks with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung on reconciliation and unification of the two Koreas. Knowing the sensitivity of North Korea towards unsolicited interference from outsiders, Megawati refrained from imposing her views on her host in Pyogyang. Instead, she used a personal rapport that she has enjoyed with the North Korean leader to effective use.

The two go back to their childhood days, when they first met in the 1950s as the offspring of two revolutionary leaders: Sukarno of Indonesia, and Kim Il-sung of North Korea. Indonesia is also one of the few countries in the world that have managed to foster warm relations with the reclusive North Korea.

Megawati delivered a message from Seoul, and also reportedly one from Washington, which essentially urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating tables. But without her personal rapport with Kim Jong-il, and without Indonesia's long history of friendly ties with North Korea, those messages would have fallen flat.

And she went beyond from simply acting as a messenger, by offering Indonesia's good offices to mediate between the two Koreas. It may seem like a long shot, but since Jakarta enjoys good relations with both Seoul and Pyongyang, it is well positioned to play the role of a mediator.

Whether by design or accident, the timing of her visit could not have been more opportune. It came only a few weeks after U.S. President George W. Bush's famous "axis of evil" speech, in which he accused North Korea of building or amassing weapons of mass destruction. Reconciliation talks between the two Koreas have stalled for the past year, and many had feared that Bush's latest speech would only push North Korea further into isolation.

It goes without saying that Indonesia should play an active role in international diplomacy in promoting international peace. That, after all, is mandated by our constitution. And, in spite of its own domestic problems, Indonesia has a proven track record in international diplomacy. Its most shining moment came in the 1990s when it took the lead in a regional campaign to bring an end to the Cambodian civil wars.

Indonesia's role in international affairs receded somewhat in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The domestic situation forced Indonesia to become inward-looking as it dealt with one crisis after another. As the situation slowly improves today, Indonesia should once again reseize the initiatives in foreign affairs, and play a role in international diplomacy commensurate with its position as the world's fourth most populous country, and the largest nation in Southeast Asia.

Whatever transpires from Megawati's Korean diplomacy -- whether her offer is taken up or rejected by either or both Korean leaders -- Indonesia has done its part in the search for peace in the peninsula. That is not an insignificant contribution. Most important of all, however, the visit has sent the clearest signals to the region and the rest of the world, and perhaps more importantly to the domestic audience, that Jakarta has regained its confidence and is now ready to do its part once again in world affairs.