Senior Indonesian and Australian ministers sat down Thursday for long-awaited talks marking a thaw in bilateral ties still strained over East Timor, but not before last-minute dramas.
The two-day meeting, originally planned for October but cancelled at short notice by Jakarta, is seen as an important precursor to a visit by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. However, even before the delicate closed-doors discussions got underway they hit a snag.
Talks were due to start Thursday morning but with less than an hour to go the Indonesian side, who had flown overnight from Jakarta, asked that the opening be delayed until Thursday afternoon. No reason was given.
"The Indonesians requested that the talks be rescheduled," officials told AFP. "We don't see it as unreasonable."
One senior official said no major breakthroughs were expected but the very fact that the bilateral meet was taking place at all was a sign of progress.
"The fact that this forum is happening in itself is quite an achievement," he said, adding that the atmosphere was "cordial".
"It's a continuation of dialogue between us and one of our most important and closest neighbors. We want to keep the dialogue going."
The five-strong Indonesian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, who said the talks were a positive step forward.
"This meeting is a change from a downturn to an upturn of our relationship and we do hope this will bring a positive outcome not only politically but also in economic matters," he said.
Among nine Australian ministers taking part are Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Treasurer Peter Costello and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.
Before the talks started Downer stressed the fundamental common interests of the two country's and said differences over East Timor had to be dealt with maturely.
"We do share a fundamental congruence of interests in the security and prosperity of our region," he told parliament.
"Indonesia's territorial integrity, which we fully support, is prosperity and respect for the rights for all its people is central to the achievement of this objective.
"We are committed to work with Indonesia to develop the relationship further on the basis of mutual interests and mutual respects."
The government's much-vaunted defense White Paper released Wednesday made clear a key priority of Canberra was rebuilding its defense relationship with Jakarta.
Last year Indonesia unilaterally tore up the 1995 defense treaty with Australia through which it officially confirmed Canberra as its closest bilateral defense partner.
Officials said the ministerial meeting, a regular event during more cordial times for the near-neighbors, touched Thursday on a range of bilateral issues.
Apart from the vexed question of East Timor, the worsening conflict in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province and Canberra's fear that Indonesia was being used as a jump-off point for illegal immigration were on the agenda.
Trade, education, aid, broad economic issues and political matters were also scheduled to be discussed.
Wahid has already postponed his trip to Australia four times this year following opposition from Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, among others, over what Jakarta saw as Canberra's "un-neighbourly" attitude over East Timor, invaded by Indonesia in 1975.
Australia was at the forefront of efforts to send a UN peacekeeping force to East Timor after violence erupted following the UN-brokered self-rule ballot held there in August 1999 – SYDNEY (AFP)
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