RI-Australia ties still 'long way to go'

RI-Australia ties still 'long way to go'

Samantha Brown, Agence France-Presse, Bangkok

Indonesia and Australia have a long way to go in building a
strong relationship but they have established a firm foundation
on which to proceed, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda said Monday.

Speaking after Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri and
Australian Prime Minister John Howard met on the sidelines of an
APEC summit here, Hassan said the neighbors needed to work harder
to boost their relations.

"The meeting was very, very friendly," he said, brushing aside
the issue of Megawati failing to meet Howard in Bali for this
month's anniversary of the nightclub bombings which left 202
dead, 88 of them Australians.

"Both sides appreciated the progress made in bilateral
relations. Of course, there is still a long way to go for (the)
neighbors (but) we see the potential of Indonesia and Australia
working closely together," he added.

"Indeed what we have done in the past three years is a good
asset for us to move forward."

Howard said that the two leaders agreed their bilateral
relationship was continuing to "grow stronger and better".

"As far as Australia is concerned, the cooperation that has
arisen between Australia and Indonesia... in the last year has
been more important than any ringing declaration," he said when
asked whether the two countries would push to have a statement on
terror included in an APEC statement after the summit.

Australia and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
nation, have had checkered relations in the past but their
security forces worked closely in the wake of the devastating
bombing on Bali a year ago.

"The war on terrorism will be won as much if not more through
intelligence and police cooperation as it will through other
actions. And that's very true of our part of the world," Howard
said.

Hassan said the Australian premier had expressed his thanks to
Megawati on their cooperation to date.

"Australia again, in this case Prime Minister John Howard,
expressed his appreciation on close cooperation between our
police," he said.

"And for that matter the presence of Prime Minister John
Howard in Bali and the medals that he presented to the three
police generals of Indonesia is an expression of appreciation for
what we have done."

Hassan said the two countries now needed to look to the
future.

"What we need I think is a more forward-looking approach as
neighbors... as neighbors it will be a challenge for us to work
harder to develop true friendly relations," he said.

When asked if that meant Australia had to change its current
approach to dealing with Jakarta, he responded: "I don't want to
tell Australia what it should do but we know, each other, how to
promote and enhance relations."

Both leaders attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) summit here that began here Monday, along with 19 others
including US President George W. Bush.