Though Indonesia wasn’t so impressed with Australian PM Tony Abbott’s comments linking $1 billion in tsunami aid to displeasure over the imminent Bali Nine executions, Indonesia’s Vice President is reportedly going to “fuggedaboutit,” thanks to Aussie Foreign Minster Julie Bishop.
Australia’s ABC News is reporting that Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla accepted Bishop’s explanation after a phone call on Thursday.
RELATED Abbott defends himself: those tsunami aid-Bali 9 comments were not a threat
Kalla reportedly said Bishop “expressed regret in regards to the misunderstanding” that had Indonesia’s foreign ministry saying Abbott had made “threats.”
Bishop also told Kalla that Australia wanted to continue its relationship of cooperation with Indonesia and help fight its illegal drugs problem, according to ABC.
“I have made it quite clear that the Prime Minister was simply illustrating the point that Australia has been and remains a supporter, a close friend of Indonesia,” Bishop said, as quoted by ABC.
“Certainly these comments were not any attempt to threaten Indonesia.”
That aside, Bishop has been working to save the Bali Nine Australian pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from the firing squad and is even one of the people responsible for pushing this whole controversial #boycottBali campaign business.
Photos by AFP
