VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government will not use a military approach to overcome issues in Papua. But the government will use a comprehensive approach. It has firstly understood and realized that the issues of Papua issue cannot only be solved with a military approach.  This was emphasized by Presidential Chief of Staff General TNI (Retired) Moeldoko when held a meeting with the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Kevin Burnett at Bina Graha in Jakarta on Tuesday (4/1). 

Moeldoko further said that the comprehensive approach which is related to education, health and poverty alleviation will be prioritized by the government to deal with the problems in Papua because those must be resolved and important for Indonesia. Therefore, he explained that President Joko Widodo has issued Presidential Instruction No. 9/2020 regarding the acceleration of welfare development in Papua and West Papua. Moeldoko added that the program to accelerate the welfare in Papua and West Papua is led by Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin.

Kevin Burnett has been appointed to become New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia since September 2021. Prior to serving as ambassador to Indonesia, he had been a New Zealand military officer for 35 years. He also said that Moeldoko's explanation is very useful and he really appreciated the efforts of the Indonesian government in overcoming Papua's issues. He also wants to visit Papua and shares a dialogue with the people in Papua directly. 

The bilateral relations between Indonesia and New Zealand have been stronger after the two countries signed the 9th Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in July 2020. In the signed document, both countries agreed on 45 points of action plans that will become a reference for the development of cooperation in five years ahead.