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Sovereignty remains a top foreign policy priority in 2020: Minister
Sovereignty and national identity are one of five top foreign policy priorities for Indonesia this year, Foreign Minister LP Retno Marsudi said in her annual press statement.
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Halo: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi delivers her annual policy speech in Jakarta on Wednesday. (Courtesy of/Foreign Ministry)
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overeignty and national identity will still be one of Indonesia’s main foreign policy priorities this year, Foreign Minister LP Retno Marsudi said in her annual policy speech, as the nation doubles down on protecting its territorial integrity following recent skirmishes in the Natuna Sea and continued challenges from separatist groups in its easternmost provinces.
Delivering her annual press statement on Wednesday, Retno reiterated the “4+1” formula of foreign policy priorities that she had prepared for this year, which includes diplomacy to uphold Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
To that end, she said the government would step up negotiations with neighboring countries on land and maritime borders, stand up to all separatist efforts and any foreign support for it and continue mainstreaming values such as pluralism, democracy, tolerance and women empowerment, which the state considers to be Indonesia’s national assets.
She also took a vague jab at China, with whom Indonesian maritime authorities have been jostling in the past week over the waters around Natuna in Riau Islands province.
“On a specific note, I would like to reiterate one principle with regard to sovereignty and sovereign rights within Indonesian waters: Any claims, whosoever makes them, shall be conducted in line with international law, including UNCLOS 1982,” Retno said in her annual press statement, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Indonesia will consistently reject claims that are not recognized under international law.”
The minister delivered her speech just as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo arrived in the Natunas in a near-repeat of his visit in 2016 when a skirmish with Chinese coast guard vessels led him to host a meeting on board a warship sailing in Indonesia-controlled waters.
