Jakarta Must Not Expect Canberra to Apologize over Spying Allegation

Denpasar (Antara) - International political observer Idin Fasisaka said the government should not expect the Australian government would apologize to Indonesia over the alleged spying. It is unlikely that Prime Minister Tony Abbott would explicitly retract his statement and apologize to Indonesia, the lecturer at the state Udayana University said here on Saturday. He said Indonesia does not need to react too harshly as Australia has seemed to soften gradually on the issue. "We all hope the tension would be over that the two countries could move to a new phase of diplomacy," he said. However, he described the country withdrawing from joint military exercise with Australia as a right political move. "The government must have made a rational calculation that Indonesia would not suffer much losses in withdrawing from the joint exercise," he said. He said Indonesia and Australia have strong mutual interest such as in education, economy and cultural relations. The two countries must not react too emotionally in facing problem in the bilateral relations, he said. He called on the government to evaluate cooperation agreements with Australia. (*)