Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09JAKARTA2081
2009-12-21 09:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

INDONESIA-UNITED STATES STRATEGIC CONSULTATIONS ON

Tags:  EAID SENV PREL PARM KGHG MARR OVIP BURNS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1599
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #2081/01 3550903
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 210903Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4175
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP 0161
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 JAKARTA 002081 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR P (L.ROSENBERGER),E, EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS,
EAP/RSP, OES, EEB
NSC FOR J.BADER AND D.WALTON; MCC FOR ISMAIL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2019
TAGS: EAID SENV PREL PARM KGHG MARR OVIP BURNS
WILLIAM),ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA-UNITED STATES STRATEGIC CONSULTATIONS ON
THE COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP

JAKARTA 00002081 001.2 OF 005


Classified By: Charge d'Affiares Ted Osius, reasons 1.4 (b+d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 JAKARTA 002081

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR P (L.ROSENBERGER),E, EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS,
EAP/RSP, OES, EEB
NSC FOR J.BADER AND D.WALTON; MCC FOR ISMAIL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2019
TAGS: EAID SENV PREL PARM KGHG MARR OVIP BURNS
WILLIAM),ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA-UNITED STATES STRATEGIC CONSULTATIONS ON
THE COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP

JAKARTA 00002081 001.2 OF 005


Classified By: Charge d'Affiares Ted Osius, reasons 1.4 (b+d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During the first session of the December
11 inaugural U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Consultations, Under
Secretary Bill Burns led the U.S. delegation in a discussion
of bilateral cooperation under the Comprehensive Partnership
(CP). The U.S. and Indonesian delegations discussed ways to
move forward on key elements of the CP's Plan of Action,
including the Science and Technology Agreement (STA),
education, health and environmental cooperation, economic
ties, and the normalization of mil-to-mil relations. Both
sides expressed the desire for a genuine partnership and the
need to make maximum tangible progress prior to POTUS's
planned visit to Indonesia next year. The two sides stressed
the importance of strengthening people-to-people ties. U/S
Burns recognized Indonesia's important leadership role in the
G20 and other international fora, and hoped the CP would grow
to include cooperation on regional and global issues such as
non-proliferation and climate change. The U.S. and
Indonesian delegations agreed to work to find a way to resume
U.S. cooperation with Indonesian Army Special Forces
(KOPASSUS). END SUMMARY.

U.S.-INDONESIA STRATEGIC CONSULTATIONS


2. (SBU) Under Secretary Bill Burns led the USG delegation
to the first U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Consultations on
December 11 in Jakarta. The Consultations are a key part of
regular, increased high-level engagement under the United
States-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, and will help
deepen cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues.
This message reports the first session of the Consultations,
which focused on bilateral cooperation on education, the
environment, economics, development, science and technology,

and mil-mil relations. Mission will report via septel on the
results of the second session, which dealt with cooperation
on regional and international issues.

THE COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP


3. (SBU) DEPLU Director General for European and American
Affairs Ambassador Retno Marsudi praised U/S Burns'
participation in the Bali Democracy Forum the previous day,
noting the importance of U.S. support for this initiative.
She underscored the importance of these strategic
consultations - the first of their kind between the United
States and Indonesia - and was grateful for holding the
discussion even before the CP was officially launched. U/S
Burns agreed, and noted the importance of such consultations
to building a true partnership, which means a real two-way
street. Discussing the status of the Comprehensive
Partnership Plan of Action (POA) as well as Joint
Presidential Statement, U/S Burns and Ambassador Marsudi
agreed to strive for as many concrete accomplishments as
possible before a POTUS visit to Indonesia and the CP's
official launch. The CP is an opportunity to bring tangible
benefits to the people of both Indonesia and the United
States and to enhance cooperation on important global
challenges and in multilateral fora.


4. (SBU) U/S Burns and EAP DAS Scot Marciel informed the
Government of Indonesia (GOI) that the USG was still
reviewing Indonesia's October counter draft of the POA and
hoped to provide the U.S. response in early January. The GOI
agreed on the importance of picking the right time to
announce the CP, Ambassador Marsudi said, and was ready to
continue discussion of the draft POA. On the Joint
Presidential Statement, Ambassador Marsudi said the GOI
understood the USG preference for a short document. She
asked how the USG views the nature of the statement, noting
that the GOI prefers this to be separate from the
Comprehensive Partnership POA. U/S Burns explained that we
would work with the White House, which would have the lead on
documents related to the President's visit.

PEACE CORPS


5. (SBU) Both sides agreed that the Peace Corps agreement (to
be signed that afternoon) was a concrete and important step

JAKARTA 00002081 002.2 OF 005


toward strengthening people-to-people exchanges between the
U.S. and Indonesia. U/S Burns called it the quintessential
U.S. people-to-people program and looked forward to Peace
Corps' implementation of its program. Ambassador Marsudi
welcomed Peace Corps' initial focus on education in East
Java, particularly English language training in madrasahs.
This would promote people-to-people contacts between elements
of Indonesia's Muslim majority population with Americans, she
highlighted. Ambassador Marsudi noted that we should
continue to find ways to facilitate people-to-people contact
in both directions between the United States and Indonesia.


6. (SBU) The GOI hopes that both sides will get to work
immediately on an implementation agreement. Indonesia's lead
agency for Peace Corps, the National Development Planning
Agency (Bappenas) is already organizing an interagency
meeting including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of
Regional Affairs and the Coordinating Ministry of Social
Welfare to work on program implementation. This team would
probably submit a draft implementation agreement later this
month, Ambassador Marsudi said. Both U/S Burns and
Ambassador Hume responded that the USG does not anticipate
any delay in implementation. They noted that the Peace Corps
has already selected a director for Indonesia and
unofficially started recruiting volunteers - a clear sign of
Peace Corps enthusiasm.

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE


7. (SBU) Both sides characterized the planned January 2010
interfaith dialogue as both relevant and greatly needed.
Referring to Indonesia as a plural, heterogeneous society,
Ambassador Marsudi revealed that Indonesia had begun a
similar dialogue with Norway and President Yudhoyono would
discuss the possibility of an interfaith dialogue with Angela
Merkel during an upcoming visit to Germany. However, she
stressed that the GOI ascribes particular meaning and
significance to a U.S.-Indonesia interfaith dialogue. In
addition to the 20 representatives from both our sides, she
said the GOI would like to invite 10 additional
representatives from the region. U/S Burns pointed out that
President Obama is committed to building bridges between
people, and this is a first step to put into motion the
spirit of the President's Cairo speech.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT (STA)


8. (SBU) Ambassador Marsudi explained that two issues -
Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (GRTKF)
and Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) - had delayed
finalization of a Science and Technology agreement. U/S
Burns expressed confidence that remaining gaps could be
bridged. He recognized Indonesia's concerns, but reiterated
that the USG views these issues as more multilateral than
bilateral in nature. DAS Marciel noted these same issues are
also holding back a U.S.-ASEAN S&T Agreement, and that a
U.S.-Indonesia agreement would pave the way for this
important regional agreement.


9. (SBU) Ambassador Marsudi recognized that although the USG
does not want these issues in the STA, Indonesia still does.
She noted there is continuing informal communication between
USG and GOI negotiators and that they look forward to the
next round of negotiations in January 2010. U/S Burns
informed her President Obama has appointed several science
envoys, and pressed for conclusion of the STA ahead of
Special Envoy Bruce Alberts' visit to Indonesia in
mid-January.

HEALTH COOPERATION


10. (SBU) U/S Burns underscored the real practical value of
working together on health issues, and looked forward to
reaching agreement on the Indonesia-U.S. Center for
Biomedical Research (IUC). U/S Burns stressed that health
cooperation is a two-way street, and the proposed IUC
provides an opportunity to put our health cooperation on a
new footing. During meetings in July and September, both
sides agreed to strengthen health cooperation and to have the

JAKARTA 00002081 003.2 OF 005


IUC as the new face of health cooperation, Ambassador Marsudi
said. At this point, forward movement hinged on more
technical issues, she pointed out, and said that she had
asked the Directorate General for International Treaties to
discuss these with the Ministry of Health. U/S Burns
expressed confidence that the remaining issues could be
resolved quickly.

CLIMATE CHANGE COOPERATION


11. (SBU) Both sides expressed a strong desire to cooperate
on climate change. U/S Burns applauded President Yudhoyono's
bold emissions targets and conveyed U.S. readiness to support
Indonesia in meeting those targets. There is much enthusiasm
in working with Indonesia on climate issues, he noted, and we
stand ready with considerable resources and expertise,
especially in the area of forest and peat management. He
informed the GOI team that a USG interagency team will visit
Indonesia in January to evaluate how best to support
Indonesia on these issues. There is a lot more we can do
together, he emphasized, and the U.S. hopes we can do a
better job of coordinating with Indonesia.


12. (SBU) Ambassador Marsudi welcomed further discussion of
this issue after Copenhagen. It might not be easy to achieve
Indonesia's emissions target, she said, but Indonesia is
serious about it. Indonesia does not want Copenhagen to
fail, and hopes for at least a political agreement. She also
said Indonesia will be discussing the climate change funding
proposal put forward by Mexico. In addition, she revealed
the GOI is considering - depending upon Copenhagen's outcomes
- hosting a climate change meeting next year to push forward
a global agreement. Kennedy Simanjuntak, Bappenas Director
for Bilateral Funding, noted Indonesia is currently
developing a climate change roadmap and welcomes coordination
with and U.S. support for climate change funding through the
new Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund (ICCTF).

EDUCATION


13. (SBU) Both sides agreed that educational cooperation has
great potential and is a cornerstone of the Comprehensive
Partnership. DEPLU Director for North America Bunyan Saptomo
urged doubling the number of Indonesian students in the
United States, who currently constitute only one-tenth of the
number of Chinese students there. Bunyan pointed to
promising developments at promoting study in the United
States - including an agreement to provide scholarships for
junior Indonesian diplomats - but noted the number of
Indonesian students in the United States is low compared to
Australia. There are 7,000 Indonesian students in the U.S.
while there are 8,000 Indonesian students in the city of
Melbourne alone. However, perceived difficulties in
obtaining visas remain an issue in bringing more students to
the U.S., Ambassador Marsudi and Director Saptomo both
asserted.


14. (SBU) U/S Burns affirmed the goal of doubling the number
of Indonesian students in the U.S., as well as the number of
U.S. students studying in Indonesia. We have worked hard to
help Indonesian students expand their English language skills
and want to expand our English language teaching programs.
The Education USA program is helping potential students learn
about studying in the U.S. and the Indonesia Fulbright
program is the largest in East Asia, U/S Burns noted. In
addition, we are looking at ways to expand university
partnerships. There is no other area with more potential to
build people-to-people relationships than education, he
stressed. Acknowledging that visas remain a concern in many
parts of the world, U/S Burns and Ambassador Hume pointed out
that many people do not understand the application process.
However, over 80 per cent of Indonesian student applicants
receive visas. This ratio is the same for those studying at
community colleges as at high level research institutions.

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION (MCC)


15. (SBU) Ambassador Marsudi welcomed the news that the MCC
Board had reselected Indonesia as a Compact candidate

JAKARTA 00002081 004.2 OF 005


country. The MCC program has been very successful so far,
Bappenas' Simanjuntak said, and the GOI is working hard to
develop the MCC Compact program. In addition to a
Constraints Analysis study completed last month, Ambassador
Marsudi noted the GOI has also established an MCC steering
committee.


16. (SBU) U/S Burns noted this is a competitive process with
a limited pot of funds. He stressed the need to make
tangible progress over the coming year and welcomed the GOI's
target to complete a Compact program concept paper by next
summer. He and Ambassador Marsudi agreed to redouble efforts
so that when President Obama visits Indonesia next summer we
will be well along in outlining the key components of a final
Compact program.

TRADE AND INVESTMENT CLIMATE


17. (SBU) U/S Burns pointed out that trade and investment is
the weakest link in the bilateral relationship. U/S Burns
stressed that better economic ties are essential for a
stronger overall relationship. He noted that an updated OPIC
agreement, which has both practical and symbolic value, is a
discrete opportunity to make Indonesia much more attractive
to U.S. business. Ambassador Marsudi and her colleagues
acknowledged that trade and investment remains a problematic
area. The GOI finds the annual U.S.-Indonesia Trade and
Investment Council a very useful forum, they said, and is
looking forward to productive OPIC negotiations next month in
Indonesia.

SECURITY-MILITARY RELATIONS


18. (C) Both sides articulated the same goal: normal, healthy
military-to-military relations and cooperation. However,
Brigadier General Syaiful Anwar, Director for International
Cooperation at the Indonesian Department of Defense (DEPHAN),
pointed out the KOPASSUS issue continues to hinder the
normalization of military-to-military relations. U/S Burns
noted the enormous growth in U.S.-Indonesia mil-mil relations
and increased mil-mil engagement over the last five years,
and said the Indonesian-proposed Defense Cooperation
Agreement (DCA) provided a framework to expand cooperation.
U/S Burns pressed for finalizing the agreement n the next few
months. Brig.-Gen. Anwar agreed on the importance of the
DCA, but explained Indonesia's preference for finalizing it
after a Joint Presidential Statement. This would place the
DCA firmly under the rubric of the Comprehensive Partnership
and provide domestic political cover, said Ambassador
Marsudi. U/S Burns and Ambassador Hume stressed, however,
that the DCA reflects the advances we have made in our
mil-to-mil relations, and finalizing it before POTUS' visit
would provide a foundation for even greater increases to our
security cooperation. Delaying this, meanwhile, would
strengthen those who do not want closer U.S.-Indonesian
defense cooperation.


19. (C) U/S Burns stated the United States has been very
pleased with cooperation under the U.S.-Indonesia Bilateral
Defense Dialogue (USIBDD) during the last five years,
including on disaster relief, peacekeeping operations and
maritime security. Speaking for the Indonesia Department of
Defense, Brigadier General Syaiful Anwar urged the
continuance of the USIBDD and the Indonesia-U.S. Strategic
Dialogue (IUSD). Both, Anwar said, were very useful forums
for advancing military cooperation. He appreciated past and
current assistance, including C-130 maintenance, peacekeeping
operations, radar surveillance systems, and support for
Indonesia's National Defense University.

NORMALIZING MILITARY RELATIONS


20. (C) Opening a special session in which newly appointed
KOPASSUS commander Brigadier General Lodewijk Freidrich
Paulus and other KOPASSUS officials joined the discussion,
Ambassador Marsudi acknowledged the difficulty of changing
others' views of the Army's Special Forces (KOPASSUS),but
stressed that Indonesia had changed significantly in the last
10 years, and will continue to change. She stressed that

JAKARTA 00002081 005.2 OF 005


such reforms were useless if others did not acknowledge those
steps, and pleaded for the United States to see Indonesia for
what it is today. Brigadier General Subekti (one name only),
Director for Strategic Analysis at DEPHAN, explained
KOPASSUS' important role, and noted the danger of its
capacity diminishing because of lack of training and
engagement.


21. (C) BG Subekti briefed U/S Burns on military reforms and
urged the U.S. Military to resume cooperation with KOPASSUS.
BG Subekti underscored that KOPASSUS was fully under civilian
control. He explained that KOPASSUS personnel were
integrated into the regular military chain of command and,
unlike in the past, KOPASSUS did not conduct operations
independent of the rest of the military. Subekti noted that
all KOPASSUS personnel receive extensive human rights
training throughout their careers. He explained that
KOPASSUS had a critical role in counterterrorism,
humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and
peacekeeping--including 125 personnel serving with UNIFIL in
Lebanon. KOPASSUS had already conducted training and
exercises with several foreign forces, including Australia
and the UK. BG Subketi added that China had several times
proposed cooperation with KOPASSUS but that the GOI has yet
to take Beijing up on the offer.


22. (C) U/S Burns thanked BG Loedwijk and his colleagues for
their briefing, and said the USG understood the importance of
finding a way to reengage KOPASSUS. He acknowledged that
KOPASSUS had undertaken significant reforms to ensure that
its personnel did not commit human rights violations in the
future. However, he pointed out that holding some KOPASSUS
personnel accountable for past human rights abuses was also
important, and that more could be done to address concerns
about accountability.


23. (U) U/S Burns cleared this message.

OSIUS