U.S. deputy secretary of state to visit Indonesia
U.S. deputy secretary of state to visit Indonesia
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick will arrive in
Indonesia this weekend to bolster Washington's relationship with
Jakarta, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta announced on Tuesday.
The visit to Indonesia is a part of Zoellick's May 2 to May 11
Southeast Asian trip that includes Thailand, Malaysia
Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.
Though Zoellick's exact arrival and departure dates for
Jakarta are not available, the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia
confirmed the trip.
"The U.S. State Department has already announced the visit of
Zoellick. He will be coming to Jakarta this week," U.S.
Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe told The Jakarta Post recently.
Zoellick, the former U.S. trade representative, will be the
first high-ranking U.S. official to visit Indonesia since U.S.
President George Bush's second-term began early this year.
Zoellick is also planning to visit Banda Aceh to review the
relief efforts of the U.S. in the tsunami-affected areas.
The trip is seen as an effort by the Bush administration to
forge a strong relationship with the world's most populous Muslim
nation.
Zoellick is expected to seek the perspective of Indonesia on a
variety of economic, political and security issues and to discuss
a prospective security partnership.
After the Dec. 26 tsunami, the U.S. seized the opportunity by
providing massive relief assistance to tsunami victims. This has
boosted the U.S.' image, which had sunk to a record low after the
U.S. invasion of Iraq, in Indonesia.
The U.S. government, corporations and the public donated more
than US$1 billion to tsunami victims in Indonesia and other Asian
countries.
People-to-people contact also saw a significant change after
an unprecedented response from ordinary Americans to the tsunami.
"During my recent visit to the U.S., I found that one-third of
U.S. households donated to tsunami victims in Indonesia. It has
never happened before. This shows American people care about
Indonesia," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said at a
seminar last week in Jakarta.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be visiting the U.S.
later this month to boost both bilateral relations.