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PNG minister’s visit a sign of Pacific’s growing importance
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo holds a bilateral meeting with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on March 31. (Courtesy of/Presidential Secretariat)
W
ith heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific and recent developments in Papua, Indonesia stands to benefit from deeper engagement with Pacific island nations, experts have said, following Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko’s Tuesday visit to Bogor, West Java.
Tkatchenko’s arrival for the third Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) between Indonesia and PNG came as Indonesia grapples with both internal and external incidents, including the kidnapping of a New Zealand pilot by armed separatists in Papua and an increasingly polarized Indo-Pacific amid the United States-China rivalry.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told reporters shortly after the JMC meeting that cooperation in the fields of trade, development and Pacific affairs had been discussed, adding that a good relationship between Jakarta and Port Moresby was “part and parcel of a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific”.
“Papua New Guinea is a close neighbor of Indonesia and we share a long land border. [It] is also Indonesia’s strategic partner in forging deeper partnerships with the Pacific countries,” said Retno.
Meanwhile, Tkatchenko added that a closer working relationship with Indonesia would improve Papua New Guinea’s economy and security.
“We see Indonesia as a very strategic and powerful partner. It remains our traditional ally, and we hope to continue the relationship far in the future,” he said.
The pair of foreign ministers also signed two bilateral agreements, one pertaining to diplomatic visa exemptions and another on points of accord in existing border disputes.
