RIYADH, 15 May 2008 — Indonesia has set out a new vision of relationship with Saudi Arabia, while awaiting Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s visit to the country.
“Indonesia has already extended an invitation to King Abdullah and we are eagerly awaiting a response for the royal visit,” Indonesian Foreign Minister N. Hassan Wirajuda said in an exclusive interview with Arab News in the resort city of Bali.
Wirajuda, who spoke at great length on the recent screening of the anti-Qur’an film, Fitna, by a Dutch MP, criticized countries involved in the repeated publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
“The invitation to the king has been extended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,” he said, adding that Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is a close ally of Riyadh and has consistently supported the Palestinians’ struggle for a sovereign state.
“The Kingdom and Indonesia share common approaches on a whole gamut of regional and international issues.... We also coordinate our positions as members of the UN and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC),” said Wirajuda, while referring to the global media dialogue on the blasphemous film and cartoons early this week in Bali.
Asked about growing relations between the Kingdom and Indonesia, Wirajuda said, “The two countries have forged closer relations in all sectors, primarily in politics, economy, manpower and tourism.”
Many Saudi and Gulf travel and tourism companies are likely to participate in a major travel and tourism event to be held in Jakarta from Sept. 11 to 14 this year, he added.
The event, “The Indonesia Tourism and Travel Fair 2008,” is expected to attract 10,000 local visitors and 150 foreign buyers, including a number of Gulf travel and tour operators. The event, promoted by the Indonesian government, is projected to secure a total of $10 million in business transactions and will be a forum where industry players can showcase a rich variety of marketable tourism and culture sources.
Referring to the media dialogue, Wirajuda said, “The event was sponsored by the governments of Norway and Indonesia for three years running.... Hence, I would like to thank Norway for its cooperation.”
He added such initiatives are required to feed correct information to the global media, especially about Islam and Muslims. “We began with 70 participants in our first dialogue in 2006, almost 90 in 2007, and this year we have over 130 participants from 60 countries,” he said.
“Examples of bad practices are abound in the global media,” said the Indonesian minister. He said phrases like “Islamic terrorists,” “war on terror” and “Islamic militants” proliferating, while journalists fail to question their accuracy.
“But I am optimistic since participants in the two-day dialogue agreed that they need to scrutinize the practice and go back to the basic tenets of journalism,” said the minister.
“These include reporting facts, presenting the truth as much as possible and promoting professionalism, independence, social responsibility and tolerance of other cultures,” Wirajuda said. “In fact the challenges of diversity can be transformed into enriching advantages,” added the minister, while referring to the example of Bali, “which is not only physically beautiful, but it may be a living proof of how diversity does not need to be divisive but is, in fact, enriching.”
He explained that the Indonesian population is over 90 percent Muslim and yet in the middle of this archipelago, this predominantly Hindu island, with its own culture and traditions, continues to thrive. “Thus, Bali, along with all of Indonesia’s different communities and cultures, makes up the colorful collage of my country,” said Wirajuda. “I do hope that this constructive dialogue among seasoned and dedicated journalists will be a step forward.”
