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). 
 
¶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