Yet another low

Whatever one may say about the deficiencies of Abdurrahman Wahid's young presidency, promoting good relations with other countries is certainly not one of them. In the six months that he has been in power, Abdurrahman has visited more countries than many observers can remember -- most probably more than his predecessors Sukarno or Soeharto visited in the entirety of their decades-long presidencies.

Touring foreign countries for the purpose of establishing goodwill and winning support has been one of President Abdurrahman Wahid's most notable achievements so far. That being the case, one cannot help noting, however, that to this day a most conspicuous blank has been left in the long list of countries which the President has honored, or intends to honor, with a state visit.

That gap, of course, belongs to Australia, one of Indonesia's closest and most important neighbors and somewhere the President has been intending to visit since the first few months after he ascended to the presidency in October last year. Initial plans for such a visit, however, faltered due to Indonesia's strained relations with Australia in the wake of remarks made by Australian government leaders after the Timor upheaval, which Jakarta regarded as "arrogant" and "offensive".

Jakarta, though, played down the tension at the time, saying that a more urgent agenda compelled the President to make his Australian tour at a later date, which would have been next month. But again, diplomatic tension is putting a spoke in the wheel of the President's Australian itinerary. This time, due, at least in part, to espionage activities in East Nusa Tenggara involving an Australian soldier serving under the UN in neighboring East Timor.

When the President will make his Australian tour is for the moment uncertain, though it seems that plans are being -- wisely -- kept alive. Foreign minister Alwi Shihab, speaking to the media on Monday, merely said it had to occur at a moment "when relations were at their best". Last week, though, the Indonesian foreign ministry expressed serious concern over the spying incident and warned of cracks in the normalization of relations between Jakarta and Canberra in its wake.

From the Indonesian point of view, then, there is a valid reason for the President to once again delay his long-intended visit to such a close and important neighbor as Australia. In the words of Foreign minister Alwi Shihab: "our foreign policy must be mindful of the desires of the people. I believe that what has occurred has caused something that feels rather uncomfortable in the hearts of some people."

In reality, though, it seems to be not so far off the truth to say that this latest incident between Indonesia and Australia has left, so far, not much of an impression on the Indonesian people as a whole. It could be that the point has been reached where Indonesians can now take ordinary frictions between the two countries for granted. That would be fortunate, because, as has been said often enough in this column to the point of becoming boring, it is in the interest not only of Indonesia and Australia, but for the Asia-Pacific region as whole, that Jakarta and Canberra do their utmost to maintain good relations.

Whether they like it or not, geopolitical considerations ordain that Jakarta and Canberra rely on each other in order to maximize their countries', as well as the region's, potentials. It is a good thing, therefore, that the government has been wise enough not to let this latest incident be blown up out of proportion.

Unwelcome as the spying incident may admittedly be to many Indonesians, the least that this country needs at this point of crisis is for some myopic hotheads to come and start stirring up a bilateral crisis that does nothing but harm to the longer-term interests of both this country and its people.