SBY Becomes First Indonesian President to Visit Fiji

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Jun 17, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono makes the first visit by a sitting
 Indonesian president to Fiji, in a three-day trip starting on June 17, 2014.
(Reuters Photo/Toru Hanai)

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Fiji on Tuesday — the first visit by a sitting president of Indonesia to the island nation — in a move to strengthen ties with South Pacific states as well as to clear up diplomatic disagreements over the situation in Papua.

South Pacific countries, and bodies such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), an intergovernmental organization made up of Melanesian states, have a history of supporting Independence for Papua and West Papua — issues sure to overshadow Yudhoyono’s visit.

Indonesia’s harsh efforts to suppress Papuan nationalism have met with widespread criticism in the region.

Yudhoyono will attend the second Pacific Islands Development Forum, currently underway in Fiji, where he has been asked to deliver the keynote speech on development programs.

The visit was initiated by the Fiji government in order to strengthen bilateral relations.

“My duty is to increase the partnership with those countries, and we will explain our policy in Papua correctly so that we can reduce any misinformation about Papu,” Yudhoyono told journalists at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta before his departure.

He cited Indonesia’s strong, although rocky at times, relationships over the past decade with Australia, East Timor, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as evidence that stronger relationships could be developed with Melanesian states.

“They all respect the unity of Indonesia,” he said. “Therefore it is an important matter for geopolitics in the South Pacific and Southwest Pacific.”

Teuku Faizasyah, a member of the president’s special staff for foreign affair, said that Fiji was an important country in the South Pacific for Indonesia, as highlighted by the visit.

Yudhoyono ends his second five-year term in office in October.

The president is scheduled to have a private meeting with Fiji President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Voreqe Josaia Bainimarama. The two countries were set to discus collaboration in the arenas of culture, governance, maritime issues, regional and international affairs, and sports.

First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and several cabinet ministers were set to accompany the president for a three-day visit.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau

in the Sheraton Hotel, Fiji, on June 18, 2014. (Twitter Photo/@SBYudhoyono)

Related Articles:

SBY’s Visit to Fiji Seen as Widening Influence Among Pacific Islands

World Economic Forum Gives SBY Global Statesmanship Award

India’s Modi Visits Bhutan on First Step of Bid to Reassert Regional Sway