Noting the serious threats of food insecurity, inflation and increasing global power rivalry, Gusmão emphasized that multilateral dialogue has never been more needed. The independence hero reiterated Jakarta’s long-standing support of Dili’s participation at the global level, crediting former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for encouraging Timor Leste to join ASEAN – a stance now continued by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, he said.

“Our world is changing. The post-Cold War period of relative peace is over,” he said. “As we are moving toward a multipolar world, we need Indonesia to play a central role in global affairs and lead dialogue at the regional and international levels,” said Gusmão in a virtual forum discussing Indonesia’s foreign policy on Wednesday.

“Now more than ever, we need the big nation of Indonesia to continue to stand tall in the faith of international law and promote dialogue between groups and countries.”

Despite Indonesia’s occupation of Timor Leste until 1999, which was brought to an end by an international process that saw the latter’s current President José Ramos-Horta receive a Nobel Peace Prize in the process, the two countries have enjoyed a close diplomatic friendship ever since.

Besides helping the former Portuguese colony expand its governing capacity as a development partner, Indonesia has also been pushing for Timor Leste’s entry into ASEAN, Southeast Asia's premier organization that has served as an engine for regional growth.

Despite being geographically Southeast Asian, Timor Leste has only been given an observer role at ASEAN, and is thus unable to make equal contributions to the regional bloc in comparison with its neighbors. And though it has been over a decade since its membership application, concerns over the country possibly slowing down the group’s economic growth have impeded its entry, despite Indonesia’s support for membership.

Jakarta, gearing up for its role as the ASEAN chair next year, has set out to ensure Dili’s smooth entry under its lead and has started bilateral lobbying efforts ahead of its chairmanship to convince doubtful nations that the addition of Timor Leste would prove beneficial for the bloc, said a source from the Foreign Ministry.

Further confirmation could only be obtained at the next ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Timor Leste’s ASEAN Membership Application (ACCWG-TL) projected to take place in October, the source added.

The ministry’s director general for ASEAN affairs, Sidharto Suryodiporo, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the ministry had continued its efforts to aid in Timor Leste’s training and capacity building in preparation for its membership, such as providing Dili civil servants with internships to allow them to get a better picture of how it could take leadership positions at ASEAN once it becomes a member.

Sidharto added that while certain nations remained hesitant, there are indications that those nations are slowly changing their views on the matter.

“We can be reasonably optimistic,” he said, upon being asked about Indonesia’s confidence that it could welcome Timor Leste by next year.

‘A priority’

Doubts about Dili’s membership are rooted primarily in its perceived financial incapacity to meet the required costs of being an ASEAN member, a refusal to vote against the actions of Myanmar’s military junta at last year’s United Nations General Assembly and a perceived leaning toward China.

Former Timor Leste foreign minister Aurélio Sérgio Cristévaõ Guterres on Wednesday emphasized that Timor Leste had always worked to have good diplomatic relations with all countries, dismissing the suggestion that Dili had agreed to host a Chinese naval base as a “hoax”.

And, despite these concerns, there is no denying that Timor Leste as a Southeast Asian country should not be excluded from the regional bloc, he reminded.

“Geographically, we are part of Southeast Asia. Anthropologically, our people share the same roots,” he said.

In August, ASEAN chair and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen noted during the group’s Ministerial Meeting (AMM) that Timor Leste’s “accession process is advancing well”, adding that the fact-finding team for Timor’s membership had verified Dili’s economic and socio-cultural pillar competencies with satisfactory results.

Despite the promising update, Hun Sen hinted that Timor Leste was not likely to join “the ASEAN family” under its chairmanship and passed the baton to Indonesia as next year’s chairman.

Teuku Faizasyah, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, had previously made it clear that lobbying the other ASEAN members into supporting Timor Leste’s entry would be “one of Indonesia’s priorities”, Kompas reported.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi made a stopover in Singapore prior to the AMM, reportedly to do just that.

During the AMM Retno had also conveyed Indonesia’s request that the entry process be expedited as Dili has “strategic value for the stability and peace of the region”.