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Indonesia lobbies more countries for UNSC spot
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is rallying support for Indonesia's bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, just months ahead of the crucial vote in June.
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Top diplomat: Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explains progress in Indonesia's foreign policies in a press statement at the Foreign Ministry’s Pancasila Building in Jakarta on Oct. 26. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
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oreign Minister Retno Marsudi is rallying support for Indonesia's bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, just months ahead of the crucial vote in Jun.
Retno hosted a flurry of meetings with ministerial counterparts and foreign ambassadors to the UN on Tuesday and will host many more bilateral talks during her visit, Indonesian Ambassador to the UN Dian Triansyah Djani said.
"In addition to giving a speech at the [UN] Security Council tomorrow, the minister will basically meet with groups of countries for the UNSC bid," Triansyah told The Jakarta Post late on Tuesday.
Trian said the minister had already met with the new Dutch Foreign Minister, Stef Blok, and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations (PKO), as well as a number of permanent representatives to the UN from Africa and the Caribbean.
Retno took to Twitter to announce her Dutch counterpart's plan to visit Indonesia this year and commended the Netherlands' presidency at the UNSC this month.
With Lacroix, Retno exchanged views on how to strengthen UN PKOs in the face of complex challenges.
"Indonesia offered the Indonesian Peacekeeping Center in Sentul to be the hub for the UN Peacekeeping Training Center in the region," the minister tweeted, using her Twitter handle @Menlu_RI.
She also documented her meetings with ambassadors to the UN from Grenada, Burkina Faso, Togo and Gabon.
Besides attending talks hosted by other countries, Trian said Indonesia itself hosted other UN member states at breakfast and lunch meetings at its permanent mission offices just a few blocks away from the UN headquarters, as it had done in the past.
Retno left for New York earlier this week to attend Wednesday's high-level open debate session of the UNSC, where she is to make a speech about peacekeeping operations.
Indonesia has pledged to send 4,000 peacekeeping troops to overseas UN missions by 2019 as part of its UNSC campaign. (ahw)
