Soeharto and Howard hit it off

JAKARTA (JP): Australian Prime Minister John Howard and President Soeharto struck a cordial note in their first formal meeting yesterday, with both men expressing satisfaction and affirming ties between the two countries.

Indonesian Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, after yesterday's tete-a-tete at Merdeka Palace, said the 90-minute meeting was a chance "to get to know each other personally" and allowed them to find their common ground.

"The two leaders said today's meeting was extremely useful and should be followed in the future by similar talks," he said.

Separately, Howard told journalists that he was also pleased with the meeting and expressed his gratitude at the hospitality provided by Soeharto.

He said the visit allowed the two leaders "to affirm the importance of the relationship".

Howard further demonstrated the newfound rapport, saying that if needed, "it would be very easy to talk with him on the telephone to exchange ideas and attitudes."

Many analysts viewed the close personal bond between Soeharto and Howard's predecessor, Paul Keating, as the foundation of the growing empathy between Jakarta and Canberra.

Keating asserted in 1994 that no country was more important to Australia than Indonesia. He proved this by making six visits here as prime minister. The rapport was often perceived as the glue which kept relations close, despite the threat of some thorny bilateral issues.

Yesterday's meeting took place on the same date that Soeharto and Keating held a mini-summit in Bali exactly a year ago.

Moediono said that both leaders during yesterday's meeting agreed that more exchanges and meetings at all levels between the two countries should be held.

While Howard has not emulated the adoration toward Indonesia that his predecessor openly displayed, he still stressed the significant and fundamental importance Indonesia holds to Australia.

Human rights

His attention towards Indonesia is evident in that his three- day visit here is his first overseas trip as prime minister.

He is scheduled to end his visit today and depart for Tokyo.

While much of the talks with Soeharto focussed on economic issues, Howard said he did raise the question of human rights.

However, he stressed that such a general discussion should not overshadow the overall importance of the ties. "I made a deliberate decision in coming here not to get involved in the domestic political debate in Indonesia," he said.

Australia's criticism of the human rights situation here and the issue of East Timor have often aggravated relations with Indonesia.

Attending a luncheon with Indonesian businessmen later in the afternoon, Howard fended off questions on why his government had reaffirmed defense ties with the United States while the previous government under Keating had just signed a security agreement with Indonesia.

Howard maintained that international relations should not be viewed as a series of choices of one over the other.

"I have never seen Australia's relations with the rest of the world as being a series of choices to be made between whether you relate to the Asia-Pacific region, the United States or Europe," he said.

He argued that when his government took over six months ago, it wanted to dispel the "foolish notion that some people propagated that in some way, if you have good relations with the United States, you can't possibly have good relations with the people of the Asia-Pacific region."

Howard then asserted that he saw Australia's ties with this region and other parts of the world as part of an integrated package of relationships. (alo/mds)

Dalai Lama -- Page 6