Clinton says Indonesia key to new US global approach (Roundup)

Feb 18, 2009, 12:13 GMT

   Jakarta - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that relations with Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, were critical to US efforts to mend ties with the Islamic world.

   Clinton, in Jakarta for a two-day visit intended to show the US commitment to President Barack Obama's promised new approach to foreign policy, said Indonesia had demonstrated that Islam and democracy could mix.

   The United States is Indonesia's second biggest export destination but Jakarta has been critical of some US policies under Obama's predecessor George W Bush, especially his decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

   'Building a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia is a critical step on behalf of the United States commitment to smart power,' Clinton told a news conference after talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.

   'The Obama administration wants to reach out to the entire world. We believe that there are opportunities for us to engage with nations that have similar values and visions on what kind of future we can share,' she said.

   'Certainly Indonesia, being the largest Muslim nation in the world, the third largest democracy, will play a leading role in the promotion of that shared future.'

   Security has been heightened in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, with armed soldiers and police on alert on major streets and at the Foreign Ministry building.

   Indonesia has in recent years been hit by bombings blamed on Islamic radicals from the Jemaah Islamiyah regional militant group.

   But Jakarta has been praised for its crackdown on militants responsible for those attacks and has not experienced a major bombing since 2005, when three suicide bombers blew themselves up at restaurants in the resort island of Bali, killing 21 people.

  Foreign Minister Hassan said he and Clinton discussed a comprehensive partnership between Indonesia and the United States, covering areas such as trade, investment, education, health, climate change and security.

   He said the two also discussed global issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Middle East in general.

   'As we promote dialogue among civilizations, religions and cultures, Indonesia would be a good partner for the United States in reaching out to the Muslim world,' he said.

   Clinton's stop in Indonesia could be the prelude to a visit by Obama, who as a child went to school in Jakarta after his mother married an Indonesian man.

   Many Indonesians are proud of Obama's Indonesian connection and hope that it would serve as an impetus for closer ties between the two nations.

   'I think Indonesia is among the countries celebrating his victory most joyfully,' Hariyadi Wiryawan, an international relations lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said in remarks published in Wednesday's edition of The Jakarta Post.

   'This should be translated into something practical. How can we bridge the cultural divide between Islam and the West; between the US and Muslim countries. Indonesia can be a starting point that should not be ignored,' he said.

   Jakarta is Clinton's second stop after Japan. She will also travel to South Korea and China in her first foreign tour since she became secretary of state.

   After the talks with Hassan, she visited the secretariat of the Association of the South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, in a sign that the United States is paying closer attention to the region.

   She is scheduled to meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday.