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Australian PM to talk refugees, terrorism, economy with Jokowi
Indonesian marine police officers watch as Afghan asylum seekers sit on their ship heading to Australia was caught off Java island upon docking at Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, East Java
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span class="caption">Indonesian marine police officers watch as Afghan asylum seekers sit on their ship heading to Australia was caught off Java island upon docking at Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, East Java. (AP/Trisnadi)
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia will visit Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on Thursday to talk about asylum seekers, terrorism and economic ties.
Hikmahanto Juwana, a professor of international law from the University of Indonesia, says those three issues are important because Australia and Indonesia are equally interested in building mutual trust.
'The important point is that PM Turnbull will want to restore relations with Indonesia after they were destroyed by the previous government following the death sentence handed down to two Australian drug smugglers,' Hikmahanto told thejakartapost.com.
According to Hikmahanto, Australia needs Indonesia's help in handling asylum seekers ' many of whom are aiming to settle in Australia ' as Indonesia is a transit country that could send them back to their countries of origin.
'But Indonesia's help should not harm our interests and only benefit Australia by letting the asylum seekers stay here longer,' he asserted. 'Indonesia and Australia need to intensify talks and engage the UN and asylum seekers' countries of origin.'
On the issue of terrorism, Hikmahanto said that Indonesia and its southern neighbor should build a joint strategy, especially regarding the Islamic State (IS) movement and conflict in Syria.
'Many Muslim families in Indonesia and Australia are being recruited by IS and sent to the Middle East to fight against the legal Syrian government,' Hikmahanto asserted.
According to Hikmahanto, the first visit by Turnbull since he was inaugurated as Australian PM signals that Indonesia is a very important neighbor for the island nation in terms of the economy and politics.
'At the least, Australia wants to remind Indonesia not to get too close to China in terms of economy and politics,' he said, adding that Australia seems to want to convince Indonesia that it could be a strategic partner for Southeast Asia's most populous country.
Hikmahanto, however, reminds Australia to follow China's example when forging economic relations with Indonesia by avoiding government guaranteed conditions for investment commitments.
'The Australian government should believe in the performance of our state enterprises',' he said.
Indonesia is Australia's tenth largest overall trading partner and is the largest export market for Australian wheat, buying US$917 million worth in 2014. Indonesia is also a major destination for Australia's live cattle and sugar exports.
