Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is still trying to recover from sticking his foot in his mouth, when he made comments connecting tsunami aid given to Indonesia and his disapproval of the upcoming Bali Nine executions.
In response to Indonesia not taking Abbott’s comments so well, Abbott is saying he didn’t mean them as a threat, but rather as an indication of strong bilateral relations between the two countries.
“I was pointing out the depth of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia and the fact that Australia has been there for Indonesia when Indonesia has been in difficulty,” Abbott said, as quoted by the Guardian.
“Now yesterday I was referring to the obvious strength of the relationship between Indonesia and Australia and what we have done for Indonesia in the past and, yes, Indonesia has done a lot for us as well, because that’s what friends do for each other,” he said.
On Wednesday, Abbott had said he would be “grievously let down” if Jakarta executed Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry snapped back that one “responds well to threats” and continued to chide Abbott’s diplomacy.
Ironically, Abbott had said on Feb. 16 that he didn’t want to push Jakarta too hard, “because if we do turn this into a test of strength, I think we are much more likely to back the Indonesians into a corner than to get the result we want.”
Looks like Abbott’s comments may have screwed things up and done exactly the opposite of what he wanted.
Photo by AFP
