REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa and his visiting Australian counterpart, Julie Bishop, met on Thursday as part of efforts to ease bilateral relations in the wake of the Australian spying allegations.
"Todays meeting is the first step for Indonesia and Australia to communicate and find ways on how to address the issue," Natalegawa said after meeting with Bishop on Thursday.
Natalegawa revealed that there would be more meetings between him and Bishop in the near future, as proposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his statement on November 26. Among other things, the statement refers to a road map for restoring Indonesia-Australia relations.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop noted that Australia deeply regretted the events that led to the recent tensions between Indonesia and Australia.
"We also regret the hurt caused to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the people of Indonesia. As Prime Minister Tony Abbott said earlier, the current Australian government will not undertake any act or use acquired intelligence to harm Indonesia. That is our commitment," she said.
In November, President Yudhoyono suspended cooperation in three areas with Australia, namely joint military exercises, joint patrols to prevent the boat people from heading towards Australia and the exchange of intelligence information. Cooperation, the president had said, would be resumed if Australia agreed to develop a road map covering six steps, starting with Australia arranging a meeting with its Minister of Foreign Affairs or a special envoy to discuss sensitive issues related to Indonesia-Australia relations.
The second step requires preparing a Memorandum of Understanding after consensus is reached on both sides. That will be followed by intensive discussions on a draft protocol and code of conduct for future relations between both countries.
The third step involves President Yudhoyono examining the draft protocol and code of ethics to ensure that they conform to Indonesias requirements in light of the recent wiretapping issue. The fourth step requires formal approval of the protocol and code of conduct by both sides at an official event attended by President Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Abbott.
The fifth step requires both countries to show that the protocol and code of conduct have been implemented. The final step calls for the resumption of suspended bilateral cooperation, after Indonesia's trust has been completely restored in relations with Australia.
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