 |
| Image: Flickr User - U.S. Department of State |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Foreign minister says visit an opportunity for Washington to address Jokowi’s foreign policy directly with him.
The United States should use the upcoming visit of Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to impress upon his administration the benefits of liberal democratic values and engaging the world, Australia’s foreign minister told an audience in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
Since Jokowi’s inauguration last October, some critics have suggested that his foreign policy has been too inward-looking and nationalistic (See: “Is Indonesia Turning Away from ASEAN Under Jokowi?”). Earlier this year, Indonesia’s relationship with its neighbor Australia had been rocked by controversies over asylum seekers and the execution of Australian drug traffickers, which led Canberra to withdraw its ambassador from Jakarta for several weeks.
Responding to a question on Jokowi’s upcoming U.S. visit later this month following a speech at a D.C.-based think tank, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop took aim at Jokowi’s foreign policy and suggested that the visit would provide an opportunity for Washington to discuss this directly with him.
“President Widodo’s focus has been unapologetically domestic, but there have been some instances of more nationalistic behavior or more protectionist behavior by the administration than perhaps we had expected,” Bishop said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“So here is an opportunity for the United States to impress upon President Widodo the benefits of open, liberal, democratic values and engaging the global order.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat