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elations between Indonesia and Australia have turned south once again as the two governments try to pass the buck and responsibility over the fate of a bunch of asylum seekers recently rescued in rough seas between the two countries.

This is not the first time that the two giant neighbors have been at loggerheads. This time, however, domestic political factors, particularly Australian politics, could weigh in so much to unravel the strong relations they have painfully built over the past 15 years.

Indonesia and Australia have moved from the time when one single issue defined their relations. After Indonesia became a democracy in 1998 and subsequently ended the occupation of East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 1999, it has broadened its relations with Australia.

But just how deep or shallow this relationship is now is being tested by how they handle the current maritime standoff.

Australia insists the asylum seekers rescued by Australian vessels in Indonesian waters should be returned to Indonesia. Jakarta says Australia should take them because it was the final destination of these boat people.

Having campaigned strongly on the promise of curtailing the flow of asylum seekers in the September general election, the new government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott has now come under strong public pressure to show results.

He knows he will be counting on Indonesia'€™s full cooperation, through which most of the asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East, Central and South Asia, pass.

He made Indonesia his first overseas visit as prime minister and raised the issue with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He immediately dispatched Major-General Jim Molan, his special envoy for Operation Sovereign Borders, and later Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison, to secure more cooperation from Indonesia.

The row over the fate of this latest group and the frustration expressed in Canberra this past week, clearly indicate that diplomacy has not bore fruit.

Indonesia, in Australia'€™s view, needs to pull up its socks higher.

Complicating the situation was the former US Intelligence contractor Edward Snowden'€™s revelation that the Australian government has been eavesdropping on Indonesian officials, including President Yudhoyono. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa promptly raised the issue with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop. Australia, as expected, was completely evasive.

Can you blame Indonesia now for giving the cold shoulder on the boat people issue?

One thing that Australia often forgets is that relations between the two countries are not exactly symmetrical. While subsequent prime ministers, including Abbott, repeatedly stressed that Indonesia was Australia'€™s most important relations, how many Indonesian leaders have we heard saying the same thing about Australia? None.

Australia is certainly an important friend, but it is not the most important one. So, we approach the relationship differently from Canberra.

The boat people issue is an Indonesian problem and that is why the government in 2002 took the initiative to host the first regional meeting to address the problem that has now become known as the Bali Process.

Indonesia is not the final destination of these boat people but it is where many of them come through, most of them legally with the appropriate visa, before trying to sail to Australia. The problem for Indonesia is clear: Those who do not make it to Australia would become Indonesia'€™s permanent problem.

But unlike in Australia, the boat people issue is not a top priority on Indonesia'€™s list of issues to resolve. It is not even in the top 10, if such a list exists at all. One can bet that the issue will not even be raised in the 2014 general election by any party or candidate.

The Australian surveillance issue, on the other hand, may be raised in the election campaigns by diehard nationalists seeking to exploit Yudhoyono'€™s weaknesses. Any sign that Indonesia is succumbing to Australia'€™s diplomatic pressures over the boat people issue would only give them more campaign fodder.

While Yudhoyono is not running for president again, his party will be vulnerable and has to answer for his actions and policies. Abbott is not the only one who has to gauge public opinion.

The best the two governments can do together is to refrain from making statements to placate their respective public opinions, but not necessarily helpful to the atmosphere.

We have seen a lot of that lately, particularly during Abbott'€™s way to electoral victory.

Indonesia and Australia need to resolve this issue together. Surely the two countries have come a long way to understand that they have a much better chance of resolving the problem by working together. Fighting one another, even if only verbally, is not going to make the problem go away.