REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia and Australia need to discuss the issue of asylum seekers to avoid any imminent blame game, stated Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) Secretary General Tjahjo Kumolo.

"The two governments must sit together to discuss the issue so that they would not blame each other," he noted in his message to Antara here on Tuesday.

Tjahjo made the statement in response to the case of 45 asylum seekers from Middle Eastern countries who were forced to turn back towards the Indonesian waters by the Australian Navy in Ndao, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday (Jan. 6).

This case shows that despite the recent settlement of the wiretapping issue, the relations between Indonesia and Australia are still strained, he added.