ISLAMABAD: Without touching on the Kashmir issue that is considered the key issue between India and Pakistan, Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday hoped that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) might resolve conflicts involving the two countries through dialogue.

Addressing a joint sitting of the parliament, President Widodo called for supporting freedom struggle of Palestine but did not mention Kashmir.

The Indonesian president came here directly from India where he was the chief guest at the country’s 69th Republic Day grand parade watched by thousands of people along with 10 Asean leaders.

“We must not allow conflict to continue existing in our countries. We must not allow conflict to continue existing in the world,” he said, adding that the habit of dialogue had enabled the Asean, the association of 10 countries in South East Asia, to be the engine of stability and prosperity in the region.

“I hope that each and every one of us will be the contributor of world peace and be the efforts-contributor in prospering the world in the name of humanity and justice,” he said.

In address to joint sitting of parliament, Indonesian president calls for supporting freedom struggle of Palestine

The address of the Indonesian president was also heard by the chief ministers of Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, the four governors, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and diplomats. Chief Minister of Punjab and his counterpart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak did not attend the event.

A large number of members from treasury and opposition benches both in the Senate and the National Assembly were present at the session.

Stressing the need for dialogue, President Widodo said history taught them that weapons and military power would never be able to resolve conflicts. “Weapons and military power alone will never be able to create and maintain world’s peace and competition, arms race will be continuously creating tensions,” he added.

The conflict in Aceh, Indonesia, continued for more than 30 years but military approach alone did not resolve the conflict, he said. “The conflict was resolved through negotiation and dialogue. We must be a part of solution and not part of the problem,” he said.

Mr Widodo said in 1963 the first president of Indonesia Sukarno had addressed Pakistan’s parliament and after 55 years he was honoured to speak before the same house.

He said Indonesia and Pakistan were old friends and helped each other in the time of need. As a token of appreciation, he said, on Aug 17, 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Indonesia’s independence, the country (posthumously) conferred first class Adipurna Star on Pakistan’s Father of the Nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah for his contributions to support for Indonesia’s independence.

President Widodo said the two biggest Muslim population countries — Pakistan and Indonesia — were both democratic countries and members of different world forums.

He said the two countries had been consistently supporting independence of Palestine. “I would like to call once again for us to continue supporting our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Let us continue supporting Palestine in their struggle,” he said.

Mr Widodo said democracy was the best way to serve people and to provide them space in decision-making process.

He again said conflicts and wars would benefit no one and mainly women and children always became the most impacted ones in conflicts and wars.

Earlier National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said more than 600 Muslim troops from the Indo-Pak sub-continent had joined Indonesian freedom war. “Of them, 500 embraced martyrdom. These fine men were the joint heroes of our two nations and we jointly salute them,” he said.

He said Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s personal attachment to the Indonesian freedom struggle was manifested in his order to detain the Dutch planes on Karachi Airport, which were carrying supplies for their country’s army in Jakarta.

He said Indonesian brothers and sisters had also never left Pakistan alone in its hour of crisis. “They stood shoulder to shoulder with us during the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and did not hesitate for a minute over handing over whatever military resources Indonesia had at that critical time,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2018