Foreign Minister Should Implement Four Main Things: Hikmahanto

Jakarta, Oct 28 (Antara) - Foreign Minister Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi should implement four main things in order to transform Indonesia into a maritime axis, noted Professor of International Law from University of Indonesia (UI) Hikmahanto Juwana. "President Jokowi, during his cabinet meeting, confirmed that the ministers do not need to have their own vision and mission. The ministers were asked to interpret the vision and mission of Jokowi-JK," Hikmahanto stated here on Tuesday. Firstly, Retno must push for the finalization of the "code of conduct and code of engagement" that had been initiated by former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa, which is associated with the potential conflicts between officials working in sea areas with overlapping borders. Once it is completed, it will soon be signed. This is to avoid any recurrence of an incident that occurred several years ago when officers from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry were arrested by Malaysian authorities and treated as prisoners. Secondly, he emphasized the need to strike a deal with countries having maritime borders with Indonesia, so that they do not breach the Indonesian maritime territory. "This must be done so that similar incidents in the border areas are not repeated," he stressed. He cited the incident of the construction of a lighthouse in the continental shelf of Indonesia by Malaysia. He also pointed out another instance when the Australian authorities did not enter Indonesia`s territorial waters while turning back asylum seekers, even though they entered the orange boat carrying the asylum seekers. Thirdly, we should seek clarification from the Chinese government related to the country`s nine-dash line map made by the government of China. If in accordance with the map, the Chinese government did stake its claim on the territory of the Natuna Sea, then Indonesia should withdraw from it position of being an honest peace broker in the South China Sea. "Indonesia should immediately declare its border dispute with the government of China," he added. Fourthly, Indonesia should continue to conduct negotiations regarding its territorial sea borders with the neighboring countries but should not retreat from its claims made under the Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. "If it cannot be agreed upon, then Indonesia`s position will be disregarded," Hikmahanto added.