An ambassador from a United Nations member nation has expresed the hope that President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo will soon depart from his indifferent attitude and lack of interest in foreign policy matters.

 The envoy understood that the President was still preoccupied with abundant problems in domestic politics and the economy. However, the ambassdor pointed out that as a major country, Indonesia could not simply isolate itself from global affairs.

'€œYou cannot be in an inward-looking mood for too long. Indonesia is too big and too important to fail in international affairs,'€ the ambassador said in a recent conversation.

Compared with his six predecessors, Jokowi is evidently the only Indonesian leader who has little appetite for international interactions, and he is not likely to change his attitude soon. His immediate predecessor, Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was very fond of having a role on the international stage, and he performed knowledgably and with skill.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, Jokowi'€™s party boss, who might have been expected to inherit the talent from her father Sukarno, was largely passive during her three-year term up to October 2004, but she chose senior diplomat Hassan Wirajuda as her foreign minister. She gave wide-ranging freedom to him to act on her behalf.

Her successor Yudhoyono trusted Hassan so much he retained him in the position for another five years. But Yudhoyono was fully in charge of key decision-making processes and was in the front line in facing important multilateral summits or meetings.

From 2009 until 2014, Marty Natalegawa was Yudhoyono'€™s chief diplomat with the main duty of implementing the president'€™s vision and ambition in international forums.

After his swearing-in as the country'€™s seventh president in October last year, foreign diplomats in Jakarta began to speculate about who would become Jokowi'€™s foreign minister and who would become his main advisor on international relations.

The Foreign Ministry had an abundant supply of candidates to lead the ministry. Several names came to the surface before he announced his Cabinet. Jokowi could also have hired a non-career diplomat, retired government official or a politician for the position.

To compensate for Jokowi'€™s shortcomings, he needed to have an assertive foreign minister, who was not just capable but who also had personal access to and the confidence of the President. He needed a trusted confidante who had a full mandate from Jokowi.

Surprisingly, Jokowi picked senior diplomat Retno LP Marsudi as his chief diplomat. The choice was reportedly based on at least three factors: Her fine abilities, her gender and, the most important thing, she was Megawati'€™s choice for that position.

It is perfectly normal that pros and cons emerged. The fact that Retno had never held a key position in the Foreign Ministry was one of the reasons people doubted her ability to compensate for Jokowi'€™s lack of experience or interest in diplomacy.

Retno has done much in directing the ministry to achieve the President'€™s visions for the next five years, including making Indonesia a respected and major maritime power. But she apparently does not belong to the President'€™s inner circle.

It is widely believed that Jokowi feels much more comfortable regularly asking for advice from a prominent expert on foreign affairs who works for a Jakarta-based think tank, which has a strong international reputation. The scholar, however, has since been appointed as Indonesian ambassador to a major country.

It is very difficult for me to understand why Indonesia has decided to clearly distance itself from what is going on in Myanmar. The government prefers to adopt a '€œwait-and-see'€ approach, acting as a '€œsafety player'€, with regard to the fellow ASEAN member. In my view, Indonesia should be actively engaged in encouraging Myanmar in its transition from decades-long military dictatorship to becoming a fully-fledged democracy like Indonesia.

As the world'€™s third-largest democracy after India and the United States, and as the leader of ASEAN, Indonesia should be at the forefront in accompanying that nation on its journey of transition. Myanmar will listen to Indonesia because we once had similar experiences to them, and we also have no conflicts of interest there.

Therefore it appears incomprehensible to me why it was only on Friday that Minister Retno congratulated Myanmar on its successful election. It was too little, too late, and therefore largely meaningless. It is also a major diplomatic blunder for Jokowi to skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila next week.

I think this is the right time for the President to appoint a strong foreign policy council. A team compromising people from different backgrounds, but who have convincing track records on international relations. They would be trusted advisors for the President. The council would become a think tank. Many countries use such a system.

Let Retno concentrate on heading the ministry and in carrying out her main duty as the President'€™s chief diplomat. She is very capable of doing her job.

One thing is for sure, the President needs a trusted confidant (or several) to help him in dealing with international affairs. He needs a credible spokesman who will act as an effective spokesperson for him.

It is time for the President to rise and to actively lead the nation in global affairs.

Jokowi needs a strong individual or team when formulating his foreign policy and to help him in its implementation.

The President should not let himself be trapped by his domestic agenda. Indonesia is too big and too important to be left behind by the international community.

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