Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has praised relations between Indonesia and Australia, which she considers in good shape.

She made the statement during her meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister [Malcom Bligh] Turnbull and President Jokowi held a talk several months ago and since then, they are committed to continue to develop close relations between the two countries,” Bishop said as quoted from a press statement provided by the Presidential Office.

Bishop said Indonesia and Australia had conducted partnerships in various fields, including on terrorism and extremism prevention, law enforcement, security and intelligence as well as trade and investment.

“The relation between Australia and Indonesia is in very good condition and we have had opportunities to discuss several of our common interests,” said Bishop, who had visited Indonesia eight times in her capacity as a minister.

During the meeting, the minister took an opportunity to give information about the number of Australian students studying in Indonesia under the “New Colombo Plan” program and on Australian institutions that have received Indonesian students.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that President Jokowi’s plan to visit Australia was among topics discussed during the meeting. Another topic discussed pertained to the Indonesia-Australia partnership forms detailed in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) meeting agenda.

Retno said Indonesia was the host of the 2016 IORA meeting and Bali was selected as the location of the IORA conference. (ebf)

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