Soeharto and Howard hit it off

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)

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