Wahid's Australian Trip Symbolic, Still SignificantAs he concluded his visit to Australia, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid Tuesday described his trip as "mainly in a symbolic way," however the visit was still significant for the two nations.Wahid's brief trip was full of photo opportunities, with just three important meetings set for Canberra and no major policies announced. But the symbolic value of the visit was paramount. Wahid's visit symbolized a leap of exchange at the highest level between Australia and its closest Asian neighbor in more than a quarter of a century. Ties with Indonesia were placed by Australia, in its 1997 foreign and trade policy white paper, as one of its four most important foreign relations, among those with China, the United States and Japan. Wahid was the first Indonesian president to visit Australia since former Indonesian President Suharto visited Australia in April 1975. Meanwhile, the visit may also open the door to a normalizing of the bilateral ties after the relations reached their nadir over the 1999 East Timor crisis. Angered over Australia's role in East Timor, the Indonesia government abrogated the 1995 bilateral security treaty in September 1999, which provided for consultation between the two countries "in the case of adverse challenges." Wahid's trip to Australia, first proposed in January 2000, has been postponed several times because of the domestic political situation and the anti-Australia feelings stirred over the East Timor crisis still simmer. In this scenario, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, during a parliamentary lunch held in Wahid's honor on Tuesday, said Wahid 's presence "make this an historic occasion." "On behalf of the government and all Australians, I thank you for the resolve you have personally shown in coming to our nation, " Howard said. He also expressed his willingness to invite Wahid and the Indonesian government to forge ever closer ties between the two peoples and the two economies. "There is much to be gained should we succeed, there is much to lose should we fail," Howard added. On his part, Wahid described the split in relations between the two nations over East Timor as "unnatural." "Indonesia as a nation and a people liked the Australians, but the governments, for political reasons, in the past were a little bit far from Australia," Wahid said. "This is unnatural because as neighbors, naturally we should become close to each other like Indonesia and Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei," he said. Wahid said he had been determined to correct the situation by visiting Australia. "From now on, I hope that things will go smoother for Australia and Indonesia and the two nations can communicate ... and relate better and increase trade, investment and other activities together," he said |
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