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Indonesia, Vanuatu pledge closer ties
Indonesia and Vanuatu appear to have buried the hatchet regarding rights issues in Papua, at least for now, as their foreign ministers spoke on Friday about a meeting of minds toward closer ties to allay geopolitical tensions in the Pacific Islands.
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Vanuatuan Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau speaks on March 29, 2023 in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations headquarters in New York. (AFP/Ed Jones)
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n a move seen as a bid to build a bridge over the troubled waters of the past, Vanuatu Foreign Minister Jotham Napat on Friday met with his Indonesian counterpart Retno LP Marsudi, becoming the first top envoy from Port Vila to visit Jakarta in over 10 years.
During the visit, Vanuatu announced plans to open an embassy in Jakarta and to hold annual bilateral meetings with Indonesia.
In addition, the two ministers pledged to strengthen cooperation in trade and development, which experts pointed out were part of Indonesia’s larger strategy for the Indo-Pacific region.
Vanuatu, which is part of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), has established itself as an outspoken country supporting human rights in Papua. It has exchanged barbs with Jakarta on numerous occasions at international forums, including the United Nations General Assembly in 2020 and 2021, over reported violations in Indonesia’s easternmost province.
Yet Port Vila has been gradually opening up to Jakarta in recent years, an improvement that analysts have credited to Indonesia’s continuing diplomacy to appease some Pacific Island nations as tensions sharpen due to increasing geopolitical competition in the region.
Speaking after a closed-door meeting with Napat, Retno said the meeting was “an important milestone” for both countries, and noted several crucial commitments that Vanuatu and Indonesia shared.
“Being a Pacific country ourselves, we share many of the same challenges, [including] climate change, natural disasters [and] maritime issues. This is why we have the Pacific Elevation, so we can address our challenges as one big family,” Retno said.
