Indonesia continues assisting settlement of global issues: Minister

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE

The Indonesian government will continue implementing its foreign policy on consistently helping resolve global issues, and supporting Palestine for national independence in 2010.

"Indonesia will continue consistently supporting the struggle and peace process aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian country," Foreign Minister M Marty Natalegawa said in Jakarta on Friday.

He said Indonesia said Israel continued committing violence in the Middle East and also breached international law and previously agreed commitments.

Therefore, Indonesia continued diplomatic efforts by the foursome (United Nations, Russia, European Union, and the United States) to resolve the conflict, the minister said.

Besides with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Indonesia`s foreign policy will not ignore constant difficulties in Afghanistan and Iraq and the nuclear threat in the Korean Peninsula and Iran, he added.

"Indonesia will attempt to give a contribution according to its capacity and principles, based on the result of an analysis on the needs of these countries," he said.

Associated with the nuclear threat, the foreign minister expected that countries with nuclear arms also have a responsibility to ensure significant cuts of their nuclear arsenal.

Indonesia as the Coordinator of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for disarmament issues, will play an active role at the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT Review Conference) in New York in May 2010.

Indonesia will also continue actively promote world peace and security through the Non-Aligned Movement, Group of 77 and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Meanwhile in global post-financial crisis which struck in 2008 and Indonesia`s involvement in the G-20, also increasingly provided opportunities for Indonesia as the third largest democratic country in the world with the largest Muslim population to voice its views on world issues, the foreign minister said.

The Minister said that in addition to global diplomatic efforts and the region, Indonesia will also continue to encourage bilateral cooperation based on the motto "a thousand friends, no enemies".

"Our foreign policy in 2010 will actively work to improve Indonnesia`s relations with countries around the world," he said. (ANTARA News)