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Indonesia will not speculate about Trump aid freeze, Foreign Ministry says
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In this photo taken on Nov. 13, 2013, the shadow of a Philippine Army soldier is cast on boxes of relief items from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan, at Villamor Air Base in Manila. (Reuters/Rosalind Russell)
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ndonesia will not speculate about the United States plan to freeze its foreign grants and loans, pending any official communication from Washington, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
“The government will not speculate on any issue that so far is still presented in a generic statement and is not specifically directed at Indonesia,” ministry spokesperson Rolliansyah “Roy” Soemirat said in a statement.
“Indonesia will only provide a response based on communications delivered officially, either through diplomatic channels or other official channels, and that are discussed between government institutions of the two countries,” he added.
On Sunday, the US Department of State announced that it had paused all US foreign assistance funded by the department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The Department of State said this foreign assistance would be reviewed and “realigned” to “ensure they are efficient and consistent with US foreign policy under the America First agenda”.
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The announcement came with an immediate stop-work order for all US assistance worldwide, with the exception of Israel and Egypt.
Indonesia is one among over 80 countries where USAID operates. It receives each year some US$100 million for various projects including corruption eradication, climate crisis mitigation, education, health and others.
