Neighbors should be friends

If trouble is brewing between two neighboring countries they should immediately look for ways to settle the dispute in a mature and responsible way.

Indonesia is presently facing a dispute with neighbor Malaysia on the issue of Indonesian guest workers who have been accused by the Malaysian government of causing trouble by rioting against the police because they are treated inhumanely.

It is unthinkable and undesirable that the trouble will develop into a diplomatic row, given the fact that culturally the people of the two countries are so closely knit. Another factor to be taken into consideration is that both have pledged to uphold the ASEAN spirit of solidarity. A crisis may sometimes come in the way of bilateral relations between neighboring countries, but sooner or later they have to shake hands again through tireless dialogue and mutual understanding of each other's problems. In the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, they need each other because they are neighbors and friends.

The same actually applies to Indonesia and another of its neighbors, Australia, even though they are culturally very different. But boycotting the visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard to Indonesia by legislators, while he is an official guest of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, is indeed a diplomatic blunder, although politically these legislators are perhaps eager to show off their nationalistic clout. Unlike in the case of relations between real neighbors, you need not love the leader of a neighboring country or shake hands with them. But offending a state guest surely does not reflect political maturity.

Of paramount consideration in bilateral relations should be that the two neighbors need each other. In the case of Australia, one should consider the great number of Indonesian students in Australia and that country's contribution in the past to advance the cause of the people of Indonesia. And remember that politicians rarely mean what they say and say what they mean, for better or for worse. And John Howard is not an exception!

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta