Indonesia Will Always Play Active Role in UN, Says FM Retno

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres shakes hands with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

Jakarta, 22 Jumadil Awwal 1438/19 February 2017 (MINA) – Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has assured the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the Indonesia’s commitment to always play an active role in the world body.

“Indonesia will always be ready to play its active role in the UN,” Antara quoted Retno Marsudi as saying in a press statement of the Foreign Ministry released on Saturday.

The bilateral talks took place on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting held in Bonn, Germany, on Friday.

At the meeting, Retno expressed hope that the UN secretary general would support resolutions on various conflicts in the world, including in the Middle East.

In addition, she also raised three issues, including the Indonesian Formed Police Unit (FPU) personnel in Darfur, developments in Myanmars state of Rakhine, and the Palestinian issue.

While discussing the latest situation in Rakhine, the UN secretary general praised Indonesia for its active diplomacy and constructive approaches to help resolve the humanitarian issues in Rakhine.

Both Retno and Guterres realized the complexity of the problems in Rakhine and said that it was important for the UN and Indonesia to take constructive steps to solve the problems by paying attention to human rights violation and cooperating with the government of Myanmar to solve them.

“Indonesia is ready to facilitate communication between the international communities, including the UN and the government of Myanmar,” she stated.

Palestine issue

With regard to the Palestine issue, she expressed hope that the UN secretary general could play an active role in encouraging peace process between Palestine and Israel.

She reiterated Indonesias support to the two-state solution in the Palestinian issue and the countrys commitment to take active part in the peace process.

Commenting on the alleged involvement of FPU personnel in an arms smuggling attempt, she reiterated Indonesias concern about the slow investigation of the case by the UN. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)