Indonesia, US Discuss Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

FM Retno meets FM Tillerson,to discuss US government’s plan to encourage peace between Palestine and Israel.

Jakarta, 10 Sha’ban 1438/7 May 2017 (MINA) – Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with US State Secretary Rex Tillerson in Washington DC on May 4 to discuss the US government’s plan to encourage peace between Palestine and Israel.

According to a press statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Saturday, during the bilateral meeting, Marsudi asserted that the principle of a two-state solution has become the basis for realizing peace between Palestine and Israel.

“Indonesia will continue to do whatever it can to witness the Palestinian state stand at par and exist side by side with other countries in the Middle East,” Marsudi remarked.

Apart from discussing the Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Marsudi and Tillerson also exchanged views on the situation and developments in the region, especially the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

The Indonesian foreign affairs minister stressed that open conflict in the Korean Peninsula will not benefit anyone and will only hinder economic growth and development that has been felt by the people in the Asia-Pacific region.

She also asserted that all steps must be taken measurably, so as not to hinder security, peace, and stability in the region.

“Indonesia consistently calls on North Korea to comply with all UN Security Council Resolutions relating to denuclearization and emphasizes putting forward the process of dialog in solving problems in the Korean Peninsula,” Marsudi remarked.

In the economic field, the Indonesian foreign affairs minister and Tillerson discussed ways to strengthen the mechanism to advance economic cooperation between the two countries, which is expected to increase the trade and investment value.

Revitalizing the mechanism of the TIFA,

To this end, Marsudi and Tillerson agreed to immediately revitalize the mechanism of the “Indonesia-US Trade Investment Framework Arrangement” (TIFA), for which a meeting will be held in June 2017.

“TIFA is not only expected to immediately promote trade and investment growth but also to identify future steps to improve interaction between the two countries for boosting economic cooperation,” Marsudi said.

With regard to the global efforts to fight radicalism and terrorism, the two ministers agreed on the importance of countering radical ideology through a “soft power” approach.

The Indonesian foreign affairs minister affirmed that the soft power approach should also incorporate efforts to empower the community at the grassroots level, especially in the economic field.

In response, the US Secretary of State invited Indonesia, with the credentials of being the worlds largest democracy and a tolerant Muslim nation, to work along with the US to develop a “soft power” strategy. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)