Although he had indicated that his Australian counterpart had not fully responded to his demand for a full answer concerning wiretapping allegations, as conveyed in his letter to the Australian leader last week, overall President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono felt encouraged by Tony Abbott'€™s promise that such a practice would not happen in the future.

Surprisingly, apart from talking about Australia, Yudhoyono also said he had ordered Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to summon the ambassadors of Singapore and South Korea over media reports that their governments had also engaged in wiretapping here.

The President also implied that Abbott did not apologize for the bugging of telephone conversations of several top Indonesian officials, including spying on the President himself and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono. Many Indonesians have insisted that Australia apologize for the blatant violation of Indonesia'€™s trust.

The President also pointed out that he would send a special envoy to settle all problems caused by the espionage conducted by the Australian intelligence agency, and that further discussions between the two countries were still important to restore the relations between the two members of the G20.

Speaking to reporters after presiding over a Cabinet meeting to discuss Abbott'€™s recent letter, the President cited several important points from the newly elected prime minister'€™s reply to his answer, including Australia'€™s strong commitment to boosting relations with Indonesia.

Quoting Abbott'€™s letter, Yudhoyono quoted three basic and important points: that Australia had agreed to Yudhoyono'€™s proposal to reshape the cooperation framework, including the exchange of intelligence, by drafting a protocol; Abbott'€™s commitment not to do anything that could be harmful to Indonesia; and Australia'€™s wish to maintain good relations with Indonesia.

'€œNevertheless, it still seems there are some things that need to be clarified by Australia,'€ said Yudhoyono, adding that he '€œexpected a constructive response from Abbott and the Australian government'€.

The future of Indonesia-Australia bilateral ties now depends on how well the two countries draft and implement the code of conduct for cooperation following the allegations of wiretapping the phones of the President, the First Lady and some Cabinet members in 2009.

'€œThe final step after the two countries, especially Indonesia, restore trust and the protocol is completely implemented, then I'€™d say bilateral cooperation, which obviously brings mutual benefits, can be continued, including military and police cooperation,'€ Yudhoyono said.

While Indonesia has frozen military, intelligence and information cooperation '€” as well as joint operations to handle boat people '€” until the code of conduct is implemented and shows results, the Australian leader has agreed to Indonesia'€™s demand to push for the joint drafting of and imposition of the code of conduct.

Angered by the wiretapping allegations, Indonesia recalled its ambassador, '€œdowngraded'€ ties with Canberra and ordered the suspension of the two countries'€™ cooperation in the military and intelligence sectors, including tackling people smuggling, an issue that had already caused tension before the espionage allegations emerged.

The call to have a code of conduct is among six measures Indonesia is taking; moves that the President said were '€œbased on goodwill to engage in good neighborly relations and a mutually strategic partnership'€.

Yudhoyono will now appoint a special envoy to discuss future cooperation with Australia, including '€œthose sensitive issues'€, and to draft the code of conduct and protocol for cooperation.

'€œThere is a process that needs to be pursued, discussions that need to be had after this,'€ said the President.

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