TEMPO.CO, Kuala Lumpur - At Asia-Pacific Roundtable, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, June 4, Indonesia invites the countries in Asia-Pacific to eliminate distrust and turn it into regional cooperation.
Before hundreds of participant attending the Roundtable, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said that "it is time for countries in the Asia-Pacific region, even in the Indo-Pacific region, to devise a common framework to enhance mutual trust, resolve conflicts peacefully, and manage the changes that occur in the region," he said.
According to Marty, old worldviews that treated any rising power as a potential threat must be abandoned.
Excessive prejudice or misunderstandings in the region must be addressed with an open dialogue so as not to escalate into open conflict, he said, and that such openness is needed to understand the perspective of other countries.
"There needs to be open dialogues where we can have some knowledge about the views of other countries so that incidents at sea, for example, do not explode into something more serious," he said.
Previously, Marty also met with Malaysian Foreign Minister, Anifah Aman. During the meeting, the two ministers agreed to improve ties.
"The relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia is full of dynamics, and it is our view that the dynamics need to be managed properly. If there is a potential problem, it should be properly and openly discussed, and not approached using methods that may create a crisis," Marty said after the meeting.
MASRUR
