Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian
Prime Minister Tony Abbott will meet in Batam on Wednesday to settle the
asylum seeker and wiretapping issues that often strained relations
between the two countries.
"The strategic relations between the two countries are often
constrained due to the asylum seeker and wiretapping issues. The meeting
of the two heads of government is expected to normalize cooperation,"
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Tuesday.
He told Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) the
Palace had previously informed that the meeting between Yudhoyono and
Tony Abbott would be informal on the sidelines of the Quranic Reading
contest in Batam.
The Batam meet will be the first in the highest forum of the two
countries since the revelation last year of wiretapping by the
Australian Intelligence Agency of Indonesian high state officials.
The relations between the two countries became more and more heated
fueled by the anti-immigrant program of Abbott. In the past several
months, Australia expelled asylum seekers who were leaving for that
country on ships and forced them to return to Indonesia.
According to Marty, the two issues should be settled before the
relations between the two countries returned to normal, and he firmly
stated that Australia was the party responsible for that.
"For us, it is clear that it is Australia that caused this problem
to emerge. Regarding the asylum seekers, this issue should have united
us (RI and Australia) but Australias expulsion policy of asylum seekers
ships separated us," the Indonesian foreign minister said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to meet with
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott when they visit the Indonesian
island of Batam.
The meeting will be a follow up to the telephonic talks between the
two leaders on the sideline of the Open Government Partnership
Conference held in Bali on May 6, 2014, Teuku Faizasyah, President
Yudhoyonos special aide for international affairs, said in a press
release on Tuesday.
"On June 5, 2014, President Yudhoyono will receive Singapore
President Tony Tan Kem Yang during his working visit to Batam. President
Yudhoyono will hold a banquet in honor of President Tony Tan," he said.
While in Batam, President Tony Tan will also hold a get-together of businessmen from Singapore investing in Indonesia.
"The Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations based on a
comprehensive partnership can be enhanced if the two nations are able to
restore mutual trust and confidence by referring to the code of
conduct," he said.
Meanwhile, the meeting between President Yudhoyono and President
Tony Tan is expected to strengthen high-level cooperation, such as the
annual leaders retreat, he added.
The two leaders are expected to encourage the increasingly closer
relations and cooperation between the two neighboring nations, he noted.(WDY)
RI, Australia to Settle Problems of Asylum Seekers, Wiretapping
Rabu, 4 Juni 2014 9:22 WIB