"I hope to have a meeting with minister bishop at the end of this month, hopefully, to review the progress of the making of COC, particularly to discuss about the surveillance issue and how to manage asylum seekers and people smuggling," Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Wednesday.
According to Minister Natalegawa, the relationship between Indonesia and Australia is currently in the stage of exchanging of the COC drafts, which will be used to govern the diplomatic relation between the two countries in the future.
"I keep in touch with State Secretary Bishop to ensure that progress is being made, and we are in the stage of exchanging the COC," he said.
Natalegawa added that it is important for the officials of Indonesia and Australia to keep in touch and to establish communication, even more so during such difficult times in their diplomatic relationship.
"We (Indonesia) want to make sure that theres no miscommunication and misunderstanding and that the issue does not escalate, and during this difficult situation, its even more important to communicate and establish the hot lines of communication," Natalegawa noted.
The meeting of Minister Marty Natalegawa and Minister Julie Bishop, which will be held at the end of May 2014, is expected to help facilitate the second phase of the roadmap to restore diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
Previously, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had developed a roadmap with six steps to restore ties with Australia, after the wiretapping of the telephone lines of the president, the first lady and several other senior state officials was revealed.
The first step in the roadmap to be taken is to commission the Minister of Foreign Affairs or a special envoy to discuss at length sensitive issues related to the Indonesia-Australia relations after diplomatic ties were cut.
Second, after a Memorandum of Understanding is drawn up and a consensus from both sides is reached, a thorough discussion of the protocol and code of conduct is expected to follow.
Third, President Yudhoyono will examine the draft protocol and code of ethics to ensure that the code addressed the issues it is supposed to and adequately responds to Indonesias concerns in the aftermath of the wiretapping case.
Fourth, once the protocol and the code are prepared, they can be authenticated in the presence of government leaders, with President Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot in attendance.
Fifth, the two countries will prove that the protocol and the code had met the requirements and were implemented.
Sixth, after the two countries, particularly Indonesia, had restored trust and the protocol as well as implemented the code of conduct, the bilateral cooperation that brings mutual benefits, including military and police cooperation between the two countries, can be extended. (*)
(T.A060/INE/a014)
Reporter: By Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
