Summit a major feat in RI's active diplomacy

Summit a major feat in RI's active diplomacy

Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia scores a major diplomatic coup this week by hosting
the Asian-African Summit. Bringing together leaders and
representatives from more than 100 countries spanning two
continents is no easy task. But Indonesia is pushing ahead with
the plan even as it struggles to get back on its feet after a
series of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.

One has to rewind the clock 50 years to find a similar
gathering. The 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung attended
by leaders from 29 mostly newly independent countries also took
place in the most difficult of times. Indonesia, the host nation,
had only proclaimed its independence 10 years earlier and fought
a bloody struggle against the Dutch colonial government before
securing international recognition in 1949.

Many delegates, including India's prime minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, were surprised that the event proceeded at all. But even
more amazing, and probably unbeknownst to leaders taking part
then, was that the Bandung conference ended up inspiring millions
of peoples across Asia and Africa to fight for their independence
from European colonialism.

The Summit in Jakarta this week is timed to coincide with the
commemoration of that historic gathering half a century ago that
rewrote (for better or for worse) the history of Asia and Africa,
and thus of the world.

While paying tribute to those visionary leaders is important
as today's generation of Asian-African leaders gather in
Indonesia, it is far more important that these leaders look ahead
and forge new partnerships that would go further toward
fulfilling many of the goals set out in 1955.

A plan to hold the second Asian-African conference in 1965 was
aborted at the last minute when a coup took place in Algeria, the
designated host. Indonesia's official accounts say president
Sukarno was already on his way to Algiers when the summit was
canceled; his plane turned back and he headed home.

So, we have had to wait a full 50 years before seeing another
gathering of Asian and African leaders. This time, Indonesia is
again taking the initiative, along with co-host South Africa.

Is this, as some critics say, an unnecessary and costly talk-
fest at a time when the country is short of cash after being hit
by a series of devastating disasters?

Perhaps.

However, it is important to bear in mind that part of the cost
is being underwritten by others, including Japan and South
Africa.

The summit, like the one in 1955, should be seen as part and
parcel of Indonesia's active and independent foreign policy in
the pursuit of global peace and prosperity, something that is
mandated by the nation's Constitution.

And the golden jubilee commemoration of the Bandung conference
provides the momentum to establish a new bridge linking the two
continents divided by the Indian Ocean.

Asia has already built such bridges with other regions in the
world: Across the Pacific through the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum; the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM); and the
East Asia Latin American Forum (EALAF). There are smaller but
well-traveled bridges within Asia: the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the many expanded ASEAN fora. Later
this year will see the inaugural East Asia Summit take place.

The Asia-Africa bridge, as Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda said in a recent interview, has been the "missing link"
in Asia's regional cooperation networks. Given the increasing
complexity of global politics and international economies, this
bridge is long overdue.

Only time and later historians will tell whether this second
summit will have been really worth hosting it. Who was to know
back in 1955 that the Bandung meeting would have had such a huge
impact on the world?

In the intermittent years, Indonesia has had many other
diplomatic achievements to brag about.

ASEAN, which Indonesia helped found in 1968 with four other
Southeast Asian countries, is probably the highest of all its
foreign policy achievements, because of the impact it has had,
not only on the life of the people in this country, but also
regionally and internationally.

Being the largest country in ASEAN, Indonesia is considered
the natural leader of the regional grouping. ASEAN has spawned
other fora, including the ASEAN Regional Forum, and signed many
accords and free trade agreements within and with other countries
and regions. And at Jakarta's initiative, the region is now
moving towards an ASEAN community by 2020.

Other major diplomatic achievements in the recent past include
the Cambodian peace agreement, which had its origins in the
informal meetings hosted by Indonesia; the declaration of Asia-
Pacific free trade at the APEC summit in Bogor, West Java, in
1994; and Indonesia's brief but effective leadership of the Non-
Aligned Movement in the early 1990s.

Indonesia has had its share of disastrous foreign policies
too. The worst among them was president Sukarno's confrontation
with Malaysia in the 1960s, and president Soeharto's military
adventures in East Timor. Both took their toll on domestic
resources and on Jakarta's international image and reputation.

For what it's worth, the Asian-African Summit this week will
be another defining moment for Indonesia's foreign policy, given
the presence of so many delegates and international media.

Still, skeptics at home are right in asking "what is in it"
for Indonesia?

Indonesian diplomats may have played a big part in the
construction of many economic bridges linking Asia with the rest
of the world, but the people of this nation rarely enjoy the
fruits of their hard work.

In Cambodia, it is Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand that are
aggressively investing in peacetime. Regarding APEC, Singapore
and several other ASEAN countries are signing bilateral free
trade agreements, while we have barely started negotiations.

Similarly, China, Japan, India and Malaysia are the countries
most prepared to take advantage of this new Asia-Africa bridge
because they have already laid down the groundwork for
cooperation. The Indonesian business world is either incapable of
tapping into the opportunities here, or is simply disinterested.

Indonesia can take credit for building the Indian Ocean
bridge, but rarely do our own people get to cross it.

Our business world and bureaucrats seem to be lagging behind
our diplomatic efforts. Either they are slow to catch up with the
opportunities created, or our diplomats are simply moving too
quickly for them.

Or, worse, the two worlds are simply unconnected.

The writer is chief editor of The Jakarta Post.