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Indonesia, mid-power countries should form major global force: Ex-ambassador
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The founder of Foreign Policy Community Indonesia, Dino Patti Djalal, gives the opening speech at the Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy on Friday. (JP/Donny Fernando)
F
ormer deputy foreign minister Dino Patti Djalal has urged Indonesia to unite with the world's middle-power countries and strengthen diplomacy to compete with major powers in global political and economic affairs.
The current trend of deteriorating relations between major powers marked a chance for Indonesia and other middle-power countries, such as India, Australia and South Korea, to strengthen cooperation and be versatile in order to increase their strategic relevance and play a greater role in international relations, Dino said.
More than half of the G20 economies were middle-powers countries that had the potential to be game changers on a global scale, Dino said at the sidelines of the 2016 Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy in Jakarta on Saturday.
"Indonesia should be an effective and agile middle-power country, not only a country listed as a middle power. Because if middle-power countries can use their power and diplomacy effectively, they can be agents of change in international system," Dino told the journalists.
The basic problem with the relations between middle powers was that the countries were not united, as they had their own agendas.
However, Dino stressed that Indonesia should also aim to maintain close ties with the world's major powers, including the US and China. (evi)
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly described Dino Patti Djalal as a former foreign minister. Dino served as deputy foreign minister for a few months in 2014 and as Indonesian Ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2013. We apologize for the error. —Editor
