Amid the global situation wrecked by havoc, with the COVID-19 pandemic plundering on as well as the rising geopolitical tensions due to wars and rivalry between countries, the United Nations has placed its trust on Indonesia by selecting it to feature among Champions of the Global Crisis Response Group to address global crises.
Indonesia also holds the G20 Presidency in 2022, bringing up "Recover Together, Recover Stronger" as its grand theme that is aimed at pursuing economic recovery and an inclusive global health sector.
President Joko Widodo stated that all the confidence and support of the global community for Indonesia to shoulder the weight and play important roles place the country at the pinnacle of global leadership. Thus, Indonesia had much more opportunities to build better international relations.
Indonesia seized this opportunity to highlight its position as peacemaker, with President Jokowi flying last June to Ukraine and Russia, the two countries at odds.
Peace between Kiev and Moscow was deemed important, as war between them had led to the global food and energy crisis, also placing millions at risk of extreme poverty.
The soft diplomacy measure adopted by Jokowi garnered praises from those who observed that Indonesia had managed to contribute to world peace, just as was mandated by the Constitution, under his leadership.
According to Chairperson of Commission I of the House of Representatives, Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's move to position itself and to visit Ukraine and Russia for talks was deemed appropriate, despite peace being off the table at the moment.
International relations observer from Padjadjaran University Teuku Rezasyah was confident that Indonesia could serve as a bridge of peace between Russia and Ukraine.
He said that Jokowi's acceptance by both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin showcased an international reputation that had proven that Indonesia's free and active foreign policy was practiced consistently, honestly, fairly, impartially, continuously, and in accordance with international law.
He said that Jokowi's visit for rekindling peace between the two countries had resulted in food exports from Russia and Ukraine to the global market gradually continuing once again.
As the G20 President, Indonesia managed to initiate a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) that could be used by countries to improve preparedness to face the risk of a pandemic in future.
As part of the efforts to improve the global health architecture, FIF was set to be fully operational this year, with the World Bank as the Trustee and the World Health Organization as its main support.
To date, the G20 has received US$1.3 billion (Rp19.31 trillion) worth of funding commitments from Indonesia, the US, the European Union, Germany, Singapore, the UK, as well as several organizations, such as the Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
Indonesia is committed to contributing US$50 million (Rp742.83 billion) to FIF while also persuading other countries to contribute.
Another achievement to note during Indonesia's G20 Presidency, so far, was the in-person attendance of all G20 foreign ministers at a meeting in Bali early last July.
According to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, the presence of all G20 foreign ministers put the spotlight on their major commitment to the G20 as well as reflected the level of comfort and support for Indonesia's leadership in the forum.
Indonesia accentuated the importance of cooperation between countries to respond to global challenges.
They also pushed the G20 to address many global issues, so that the group could stay relevant and be beneficial for the world, especially for developing and low-income countries.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Indonesia's leadership in the G20 for always striving to deliver concrete results on various important and urgent issues for discussion.
Blinken opined that the G20 meeting was the right platform to sit down together and find the right strategy to solve several international problems. He cited as an example how multilateral cooperation, including that conducted by G20, could overcome the problem of procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Blinken believes that various G20 meetings, including a summit in November 2022 under the Indonesian presidency, could result in truly beneficial results for everyone in the world.
Leading ASEAN
Next year, Indonesia will be presented with the opportunity to lead as Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Indonesia had served as Chair of ASEAN thrice: first in 1967, then in 2003, and thereafter in 2011.
During its leadership tenure, several ideas were put forth that had become the landscape of the ASEAN cooperation. Thus, at the fourth chairmanship in 2023, Indonesia is expected to be able to create other major initiatives to improve ASEAN as a whole, both for member countries and more dialogue partners.
Deputy for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Rizal Affandi Lukman stated that during its tenure for ASEAN in 2023, Indonesia must once again be able to resolve challenges and needs of the global community, especially in the midst of the world's extensive attempts to restore the economy destroyed by the pandemic.
Lukman said that efforts to heal the economy would still be the main issue, given next year's prediction that the pandemic would still impact the economy.
In addition, Timor-Leste's participation, as member of ASEAN, became one of Indonesia's priorities during its presidency in 2023. This was in line with the ASEAN foreign ministers' decision to pursue Timor-Leste's membership in the association.
The process to get Timor-Leste to become an ASEAN member has been ongoing for the past decade, with a fact-finding mission that assesses the country's readiness based on the three aspects of the ASEAN community: political security, economy, and socio-culture.
With the conclusion of the assessment process by the fact-finding team and the political commitment of member countries as outlined in the joint communique of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) in Cambodia in early August, Timor-Leste was expected to join the ASEAN soon.
Timor-Leste President Ramos Horta targets the country to become a member of the ASEAN in 2023, right at the time of Indonesia's leadership at the regional-scale association.
Indonesia's leadership in ASEAN was also urgently needed to address the current main issue, the crisis in Myanmar, which was caused by the military coup against the country's elected government in February 2021.
Indonesia's diplomatic prowess and capability to embrace everyone, who were at conflict, was direly needed in a bid to implement the Five-Point Consensus aimed at helping end the crisis in Myanmar.
This was since the ASEAN leaders had agreed in April last year that no progress had been achieved in implementing the consensus due to the Myanmar junta's refusal to allow ASEAN's special envoy to meet with opposition parties, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was currently imprisoned.
ASEAN's crackdown on banning the participation of Myanmar's junta representatives in ASEAN meetings had also been brushed off, and it did not change the junta's outlook to attempt to resolve the crisis.
Due to the stagnation of the peace process in Myanmar, ASEAN members agreed to discuss this issue at their leaders' summit in November.
With regard to the ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar, which was based on the consensus run by the country that chaired ASEAN, it would also be discussed further on account of the fact that, so far, Brunei Darussalam, as chairman of ASEAN last year, and Cambodia, as chairman of ASEAN this year, had yet to gain access to meet all those involved in the conflict in Myanmar, as they were not permitted by the country's military force.
Indonesia, which would serve as chairman of ASEAN in 2023, will rely heavily on the results of the discussions of ASEAN leaders in the upcoming summit.
This outcome would be Indonesia's guide as ASEAN Chair in 2023 in helping Myanmar out of the political crisis, according to Head of the Strategic Bureau at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Achmad Rizal Purnama.
Purnama also noted that in addressing the issue of Myanmar, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had persistently striven to embrace and appeal for commitment from everyone. Indonesia called for feedback from the Myanmar military junta to respond positively to ASEAN's helping hand.
If during its chairmanship in ASEAN next year, Indonesia could make progress in assisting the peace process in Myanmar, then its reputation as a global leader would grow increasingly better and more prominent.
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Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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