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Vaccine cooperation on the table as Retno visits US
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi visited Washington, DC, at the invitation of United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first such meeting between them since US President Joe Biden took office earlier this year.
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Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi speaks with Kurt M. Campbell, the United States' Indo-Pacific coordinator for the National Security Council, on Monday at the White House. Retno was in Washington, DC at the invitation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Foreign Ministry/-)
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ndonesia is keen to start long-term cooperation with the United States in the health sector, including the possible codevelopment of mRNA vaccines to protect against COVID-19, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed as she kicked off her visit to Washington, DC, this week.
The minister was visiting the US capital on official business at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first such a meeting between them since US President Joe Biden took office earlier this year.
The three-day trip comes amid virtual ASEAN ministerial meetings and the first clear sign of a “pivot” to Southeast Asia by high-ranking US officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam, and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand.
Pundits have bemoaned the stagnant bilateral ties between Indonesia and the US over the past few years, but Retno said Indonesia was committed to strengthening the two countries' strategic partnership.
“My visit to Washington, DC, is clear proof of Indonesia's commitment to improving the Indonesia-US bilateral relationship,” she said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Retno was at the White House on Monday to meet with Biden’s National Security (NSA) adviser, Jake Sullivan, who pledged an additional US$30 million in COVID-19 assistance to Indonesia.
The assistance, which is to be delivered in the form of oxygen tanks and medical supplies, brings the total value of US aid to Indonesia since the start of the pandemic to more than $65 million.
