Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday that he
would raise the issues of mutual respect and tolerance during his annual
consultations with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Yudhoyono was commenting on an
article written by former Malaysian information minister Zainuddin Maidin,
which is considered by many here as offensive toward former Indonesian
president BJ Habibie.
“The article written by a former
Malaysian minister, Zainuddin, on our third president Pak Habibie, was improper
and unethical and could jeopardise good ties between Indonesia and Malaysia,”
Yudhoyono said after watching the movie Habibie dan Ainun in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, as quoted by Antara news agency.
“We have worked it out, the
foreign minister will take diplomatic notes both here and in Kuala Lumpur.”
Therefore, Yudhoyono added,
Indonesia would raise the issues of mutual respect and tolerance during the
annual consultations so that similar incidents would not recur to obstruct
friendship between both countries.
In his article, Zainudin made a
comparison between Habibie and Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim which
the former minister portrayed as traitors and “The Dog Of Imperialism”.
Many parties both in Malaysia and
Indonesia have deplored the article and called for a calm resolution.
Yudhoyono is leaving on Tuesday
for Malaysia to attend the annual consultation, the highest forum in
Malaysia-Indonesia in bilateral ties, presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah
said in a written statement yesterday.
The president would also raise
priority issues including protection for Indonesians working in Malaysia,
borders, trade and investment, Faizasyah said.
Yudhoyono will have a private,
face-to-face meeting with Najib before leading the ninth annual consultations.
North Malaysia University is
scheduled to confer the president with an honourary Doctor of Philosophy in
Leadership of Peace.
On Wednesday, Yudhoyono will
leave for India to attend the Asean-India Commemorative Summit marking 20 years
of relations between the Southeast Asian regional group and India. He is also
scheduled to attend the Indonesian Students Association (PPI) world conference
in New Delhi.
The summit will discuss various
ways to improve cooperation and partnerships between Asean and India and
setting the future vision for Asean-India relationships.
Bilateral trade between India and
Asean was US$74.9 billion in 2011, a 43 per cent increase from the previous
year. The figure exceeded the $70 billion target for 2012 while both parties
have set a target of US$100 billion by 2015 for Asean-India trade.
The Asean-India free trade
agreement is being expanded to also include investment and services.
The current FTA covers only
tariffs for goods and became effective on Jan. 1, 2010.
With a combined population of 1.8
billion and GDP of $2.75 trillion, Asean and India have created one of the
largest free trade areas in the world.
Asean is also moving toward a
more ambitious plan to repackage five FTAs involving six major trading partners
into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which was announced
at the 21st Asean Summit and Related Summits held in Phnom Penh in November.
Negotiations will start in early 2013.
In addition to India, the
enlarged free trade area also includes Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and
South Korea with a combined population of some 3 billion and GDP of $15
trillion.
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