REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia will strengthen its support for Palestine and be steadfast in pushing for the long-delayed realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty M Natalegawa said.

"With regard to Palestine, this year will be marked by a further strengthening of Indonesia's support for Palestine, among others, through support for Palestine's institutional capacity building," Minister Natalegawa said in his ministry, here, on Tuesday when delivering his annual press statement 2014 before the media.

The program for Palestine capacity building for the period of 2008-2013 under the framework of the New Asia Africa Strategic Partnership has come to an end.

"We will be launching the next phase of capacity building program for the period of 2014-2019," the minister stated.

In February 2014, Indonesia will host the second Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD).

During the conference, Indonesia will galvanize support for capacity building programs from countries in East Asia, according to Marty Natalegawa.

He said Indonesia will also be steadfast in pushing for a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria.

In his statement, Minister Natalegawa said at a time when the advantages of peaceful settlement of disputes are self-evident, there are signs that unilateral approaches are instead being preferred.

"Therefore, Indonesia's foreign policy in 2014 will continue to vigorously address, the triple challenges, in Indonesia's view, of the Asia-Pacific region: - trust deficits, territorial disputes and geo-political and geo-economic shifts," he pointed out.

Indonesia would help convert the "trust deficits" evident in much of the region to a "strategic trust"; to set aside the use or the threat of use of force as a means to solve territorial disputes;

and to discourage a return to Cold War-type of thinking in the region - of a new fault-lines dividing countries in the region, he elaborated.

"Instead, in keeping with the principle of an 'independent and active' foreign policy, to promote a region marked by a 'dynamic equilibrium'. A condition marked by an absence of a preponderant power, not through 'bloc-politics' which tends to create new instability, instead through relations among nations based on mutual respect and anchored on the principles of common security and common prosperity," he added.

He believed that a sustainable security and prosperity can only be realized if enjoyed by all countries in the region and not unilaterally.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika