RI, East Timor set to sign border agreement at AMM next week
RI, East Timor set to sign border agreement at AMM next week
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta
In a major breakthrough in their embryonic relationship,
Indonesia and its former province East Timor are set to ink a
preliminary border agreement at an upcoming ministerial meeting
of southeast Asian nations in Jakarta, an official at the Embassy
of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (East Timor) said.
"Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and
his East Timor counterpart, Ramos Horta, will sign the border
agreement on June 30," Counselor Juvencio de Jesus Martins told
The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Indonesia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), will host an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
(AMM) on June 29 through June 30.
Ramos Horta will be present at the opening of the AMM as a
guest.
Martin said senior officials from the two countries were
holding a two-day meeting in Bogor, West Java, to hammer out
final details of the border pact. The meeting, which began on
Tuesday, was due to end on Wednesday.
"The two countries have reached agreement on 90 percent of its
border while the remaining 10 percent will be discussed further
after the signing," he added.
He said the East Timor delegation was led by Nelson Santos,
secretary-general of the East Timor Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty A. Natalegawa said
the agreement boded well for future relations between the two
countries.
"This is a very important agreement," Marty said on Tuesday.
"Border issues are one of the key residual issues that have
resulted from the separation of East Timor from Indonesia."
The agreement is expected to improve security and help reduce
rampant smuggling between East Timor and Indonesian-held West
Timor.
Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and
ruled it until 1999, when the province's people voted
overwhelmingly for independence in a United Nations referendum.
The turbulent relations began improving even before East Timor
became independent in May 2002. Tens of thousands of refugees
have returned home, militias have largely been marginalized and
trade between the two countries is on the rise.