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Why Vietnam's ruling party chief's visit is strategic
Vietnam helped Indonesia during the troubled times of 1965 by supplying rice.
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Recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Hoi An is a major tourist destination in Vietnam. (Shutterstock.com/iamtripper )
V
ietnam’s Communist Party secretary-general, Nguyen Phu Throng, is visiting Indonesia from Aug. 22 to 24 to give new shape to the more than six decades of close friendship between the two countries.
In the first-ever visit of a Vietnamese ruling party chief, Nguyen, Vietnam’s most powerful figure, will meet President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, several ministers, businesspeople and political leaders and discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations. The historic visit thus reflects the growing strategic ties between the two rising stars of Southeast Asia.
Vietnam and Indonesia have always been close partners. Their respective founding fathers — Ho Chi Minh and Sukarno — were not only close friends but also shared a common vision about their countries’ prosperous future. Both Vietnam and Indonesia happened to start their journey in 1945, when they earned their hard-fought freedom from their colonial masters.
Their long-standing relationship began a few months after the historic 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, West Java, when they established diplomatic ties. Since then, their friendship has grown by leaps and bounds.
Their problem-free ties stood the test of time — especially during the Vietnam War and Cold War — and survived despite several tectonic shifts in the areas of international politics, economy and global diplomacy.
Vietnam helped Indonesia during the troubled times of 1965 by supplying rice. It was Indonesia — especially then defense minister Gen. Benny Moerdani, foreign minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja and his successor Ali Alatas — that played a major role in convincing other ASEAN countries to engage Vietnam and bring it into the fold of ASEAN. Vietnam joined the regional grouping in 1995.
By and large, it has been a timehonored traditional friendship that has been continuously nurtured by leaders and the people of Vietnam and Indonesia from time to time. Until now, both countries have signed more than 30 agreements covering many areas. Their leaders and officials meet regularly at the Joint Cooperation Committee on Science and Technology and the Bilateral Cooperation Committee.
