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SBY, Abbott meeting in May could see tensions thaw
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto: (JP)President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the sidelines of a conference in Bali in early May
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Kuntoro Mangkusubroto: (JP) (JP)
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto: (JP)
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the sidelines of a conference in Bali in early May.
If it materializes, it will be the first top level meeting since relations between the two nations soured amid last November's spying row.
Presidential Working Unit for Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4) chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, whose unit was responsible for organizing the conference slated to be attended by the two leaders, confirmed Abbott's attendance to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Kuntoro said he had received Abbott's confirmation but did not elaborate the meeting's agenda.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, attended by the representatives of 54 countries, will be held on May 6 and 7 in Nusa Dua, Bali.
The conference's highlights will include a keynote address from Yudhoyono and remarks from high-level speakers from participating and non-participating OGP countries in the Asia Pacific.
The OGP, of which Indonesia holds the rotating chairmanship for 2013 and 2014, is a multilateral initiative promoting government transparency and encouraging citizen participation in tackling corruption.
Australia was invited to join the OGP in September 2011, but took until May 2013 to respond, with an announcement of its intention to join emerging in April 2014.
Presidential spokesman for foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah said the President had invited several heads of state and governments in the Asia Pacific to attend the conference.
'If the leaders have time to come then they will meet with the President,' he said. 'The latest discussion relating to the OGP with the President revolves around planned programs. There's no details yet on the numbers of guests attending.'
The last time the two leaders met was during the ASEAN Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, between Oct. 9 and 10 last year, when relations between the two countries were at all-time high.
Yudhoyono announced Jakarta was freezing military and intelligence cooperation with Canberra in November last year, following allegations of spying on Yudhoyono and his inner circle, as well as Australia's turn-back boat policy on undocumented migrants.
In response, Yudhoyono withdrew Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema until tensions between Jakarta and Canberra eased.
Jakarta also blasted Australia for a joint spying operation on Indonesia in last year's trade dispute with the US, as well as for Australia offering to share back-room information with the Americans.
Yudhoyono demanded the two countries jointly draft a code of conduct (CoC), but little progress appears to have been made in such discussions.
When asked whether the invitation to Abbott signalled Jakarta's intention to patch up relations, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said he did not draw such a conclusion.
'Our hope is that all intentions are in the interests of our bilateral relations,' he said.
Australian Embassy spokesman Ray Marcelo said his office could not confirm Abbott's attendance.
'I don't have any confirmation of the prime minister's attendance,' he said.
