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"As I travel around the world over the next years, I will be saying to people: if you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can co-exist, go to Indonesia," Clinton said. (Reuters) |
JAKARTA — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has held up Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, as a proof that modernity and Islam can coexist.
"As I travel around the world over the next years, I will be saying to people: if you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can co-exist, go to Indonesia," Clinton told a dinner with civil society activists, reported Reuters.
Clinton met early Thursday, February 19, with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on her second day of trip to Indonesia.
She told journalists that Washington wanted Jakarta's "advice and counsel about how to reach out not only to the Muslim world but to Asia and beyond."
A spokesman for Yudhoyono said Clinton had "praised the democratization process in Indonesia, which is a model for Islam," referring to 10 years of reform since the ouster of dictator Suharto in 1998.
Following talks with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda on Wednesday, Clinton said Indonesia -- as a democratic and mainly Muslim country -- would play a key role in the Obama administration's new commitment to "smart power."
"Certainly Indonesia, being the largest Muslim nation in the world, the third-largest democracy, will play a leading role in the promotion of that shared future," she said.
She said the US looked forward to deepening cooperation with Indonesia on several "shared issues" such as the global economic crisis, climate change, security and human rights.
Clinton's visit to Indonesia plays on the large popularity of US President Barack Obama, who lived in Jakarta for four years as a child.
"Of course the personal relationship that President Obama has to Indonesia is very important to him," Clinton said, adding that his time here had helped to shape his world view.
Beautifying US
Clinton, wearing a navy blue suit, visited US-funded projects in the Petojo area in central Jakarta early Thursday on the second-day of her trip.
She told a group of craftswomen she was "proud" of their work and patted children on the head, to the delight of locals.
Earlier, Clinton made small talk on a popular music TV show in a bid to improve America's image in the Muslim nation.
Appearing on "Dahsyat" ("Awesome"), a local youth music show, Clinton got a cheer when she said the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among her favorite musicians, but she politely declined an offer to sing herself.
She also fielded questions about the anger of Indonesians at US policy in the Middle East, saying Obama had decided to push hard for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
"We are going to work very hard to try to resolve what has been such a painful, difficult conflict for so many years ... so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace."
America's relations with the Muslim world soared during Bush's eight-year presidency.
Many Muslims were particularly angered by Washington's so-called war on terror and the US bias to Israel.
Clinton said her visit to Indonesia aimed to re-engage with Asia after years of neglect under the Bush administration.
"I decided I wanted to come to Asia on my first trip because we concluded in the last several years we hadn't paid enough attention to many parts of Asia," she said.
"Our interests aren't just focused on China."
She added "when the United States is absent, people believe we are not interested -- that creates a vacuum that destructive forces can fill."
"We don't want to be absent," Clinton said. "We want to be present."
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