YUDHOYONO`S VISIT TO IRAN FOR ECONOMIC AND ENERGY COOPERATION
Antara News Agency - March 10, 2008By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to leave for Iran Monday (March 10) on which the UN Security Council has imposed an additional sanction following that country`s alleged uranium enrichment.
The reciprocal visit Yudhoyono will make is only a few days after this world largest archipelagic country`s success to show to the world its true identity by abstaining from voting on the UN addtional sanction on Iran.
With regard to the visit, Hariyadi Wiryawan, an expert on international relations at the University of Indonesia, called the government of Indonesia to use the political momentum to forge mutually beneficial economic cooperation with Iran following Yudhoyono`s visit from March 10 to 12 to that mid-eastern country.
From the political aspect, Yudhoyono`s visit would be a good momentum to improve the economic relations, he cited.
Some cooperation agreements signed by the two countries during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad`s visit to Indonesia in May 2006 which have yet to be realized need a stronger commitment to materialize them.
"Especially that the upcoming visit is aimed at strengthening the two countries` relations in many aspects, including the economic sector," he noted.
In the meantime, Dr Sofyan Siregar, a lucturer of the European Islamic University in Rotterdam who happens to be on a visit to Indonesia, said that the abstention in the UN voting for an additional sanction on Iran would indirectly show Indonesia`s siding with that country in developing its nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Indonesia has taken the right step amid a negative perception of the west in seeing it. The government of Indonesia should worry about the opinion of other western countries because of its abstention which had shown to the world its political neutrality.
According to him, so far Indonesia often tried to bridge US-Iran relations in a bid to solve the Iranian nuclear program.
In the context of Iranian effort to forge its relations with Iraq was seen by many circles as the revival of a new force which will never affect the government of Indonesia. "We don`t have to worry about it, it won`t have a direct implication on Indonesia," Sofyan said, adding that it would be much better for Indonesia to discuss the cooperation to develop a nuclear power plant.
Such cooperation on this kind of energy is a breakthrough in a bid to strengthen relations between two countries in energy in addition to economic sector.
In the meantime, Dino Patti Djalal, presidential spokesman, said Indonesia still supported Iranian rights to build its nuclear sector for peaceful purposes in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Indonesia will continue a dialogue on nuclear issues in order to arrive at a peaceful and dignified solution. But however the focus of the meeting of two countries` heads of state in Teheran is more directed at improving relations in the field of energy and trade.
In the last two years, the two countries had exactly a strong commitment to developing sciences in energy and generating trade sectors.
Iran once expressed interest in investment in the energy sector, while Indonesia would be engaged in the agricultural sector.
The two heads of state are scheduled to witness the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding which among others include agriculture, education, trade and youths, Dino said.
Yudhoyono`s meeting with some figures in Iran during the visit will be put on the agenda. But, the visit will take place in the wake of a strong debate pertaining to the UN additional sanction on Iran.
While President Yudhoyon`s visit to Iran could be expected not to cause any impact following the UN resolution 1803 which had been approved, it would again show to the world Indonesia as a sovereign country is free to build and strengthen its relations with whatever country in the world.
Especially that the visit is to be conducted after Indonesia`s rejecting the UN Security Council`s insistance to issue more additional sanctions on Iran after President Ahmadinejad`s success in recording a historic visit to Iraq since the involvement of the two countries in war in 1980s.
Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit Iran in the first leg of his foreign tour which will take him to Senegal to attend the eleventh Summit of the Organization of Islamic Countries and a working visit to South Africa.(*)
Source: Antara News Agency - www.antara.co.id