A boost to relations with Indonesia

By Amit Baruah

BALI (Indonesia), JAN. 13. It had been 14 long years since an Indian Prime Minister visited Indonesia. By choosing to visit Indonesia at its current stage of intense domestic turmoil and democratic transformation, the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, has achieved much. Just coming here has been good for the bilateral relationship, long neglected in India's diplomatic calculus.

Though officials accompanying the Prime Minister have been at pains to emphasise that a Joint Commission has been set up at the level of Foreign Ministers by the two countries for regular interaction, the fact remains that Indian diplomacy has yet to come of age in South-East Asia.

Ironically enough, while India's cultural footprints are everywhere in South-East Asia, India and Indians know very little about this part of the world, especially a big archipelago of a nation such as Indonesia.

In the case of Vietnam, where the Prime Minister spent three full days in the first leg of his South-East Asia tour, India has had a consistent relationship - more of a process than an event. Even here, India has still to consistently raise its trade profile in a country with much goodwill for both India and Indians. A visit by the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) general secretary, Mr. Le Kha Phieu, is expected in the first quarter of the next year.

In separate interviews with this newspaper, both the Vietnam Prime Minister, Mr. Phan Van Khai, and the Indonesian President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, have made points to ponder as far as Indian diplomacy towards South-East Asia goes.

As Mr. Khai pointed out, India's economic and trade relations with the ASEAN remains modest - accounting for ``less than one per cent of the ASEAN's total trade value''. The Prime Minister said India needed to increase its economic linkages to increase interaction with the ASEAN.

The language of business is understood loud and clear in this part of the world. If India wants to eventually have a separate summit with the ASEAN, its economic relationship with the regional grouping must create the ground conditions for such an interaction. Mr. Wahid's comments on the separate India-ASEAN summit are also significant. ``It has to be understood that no decision in the ASEAN can be taken by one side. Although, I am very preferable to the idea of putting India there, but India is part of the SAARC. And, the relationship between India and the SAARC should be considered. That's the point of Malaysia,'' he told The Hindu.

If, indeed, New Delhi is serious about strengthening its economic linkages with Southeast Asia and the rest of the world, then SAARC must be revitalised. If the Government can consider sending a Hurriyat Conference delegation to visit Pakistan, then surely the SAARC process can be put back on the rails.

Since the Prime Minister will be in Malaysia from February 7-10, the remarks of the Indonesian President have provided Indian diplomats with a job to do as far as working on Kuala Lumpur's perceptions is concerned.

The Pakistanis have been able to successfully curry favour in Malaysia, a point that needs to be countered by setting the basis of a solid economic relationship.

Malaysia is a country which is not afraid of speaking out its mind in international forums. A new understanding of India in Malaysia not only augurs well bilaterally, but could have regional spin-offs as well.

Award for Vajpayee

A press release on behalf of Sri Chinmoy said he met the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, on Saturday evening at the hotel where he was staying and presented him with the U Thant Peace Award in recognition of his lifetime service to India. During the meeting, Sri Chinmoy sang a song which he had composed about the Prime Minister.

Sri Chinmoy is in Bali accompanied by 360 of his students from all over the world as part of his annual two-month peace goodwill visits to different countries. Last month, he was in Myanmar where he met the country's leader, Mr. Khin Nyunt.

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