Prabowo Backs BoP Diplomacy Before Considering Withdrawal

JAKARTA, March 6 (Bernama) -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto still regards the Board of Peace (BoP) as an important diplomatic platform for efforts towards peace in Palestine and Gaza, despite growing calls for Indonesia to suspend or withdraw from the forum, a minister said.

Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid said Prabowo conveyed the views during a meeting with Muslim scholars and leaders of Islamic mass organisations at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

During the meeting, he said Prabowo acknowledged suggestions from various parties calling for Indonesia to suspend or even leave the forum, saying the government remains open to hearing different views.

“If there are those who suggest such a move, the government is not anti-criticism. We are listening while observing the situation,”  he said, as reported by the Indonesian national news agency ANTARA on Friday.

Nusron said the president believed it was important to explain Indonesia’s position regarding its participation in the forum.

He said the president viewed the BoP as a platform that could still be utilised as part of Indonesia’s diplomatic efforts to encourage peace, particularly in relation to the situation in Palestine and Gaza.

He added that Prabowo believed such diplomatic efforts should be pursued first before considering other options, including withdrawing from the forum.

“Indonesia has accepted the BoP as a means, as an effort towards peace. At the very least, this effort should be tried first. We should not call for withdrawal before the effort has even been undertaken,” he quoted the president as saying.

Nusron added that Prabowo had also questioned what alternative platform would be available if Indonesia were to leave the forum.

According to him, the president noted that the BoP currently serves as one of the platforms available for discussions on efforts to promote peace in Palestine and Gaza.

He said Indonesia, together with eight other countries, had agreed to utilise the forum as a diplomatic space to encourage dialogue and seek a resolution to the conflict.

-- BERNAMA