FOREIGN MINISTER MARSUDI: Before I begin, allow me to extend our condolences for the victims of the tornado that struck six states in the United States. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the American people.
Secretary Blinken, (inaudible), and colleagues, welcome to Jakarta. I am so glad to see you again after our first strategic dialogue in Washington, D.C. last August.
We also accompanied our leaders in their bilateral meetings in Glasgow last November. We attended many summits and high-level meetings together: the Summit for Democracy, Bali Democracy Forum, COVID-19 Summit, ASEAN, G7, and many more.
So this meeting reflects our (inaudible) relations and further intensify the bilateral, regional, and global level. So the foundation of our bilateral relations are solid, based on so many shared values, including democracy, and based on mutual interests, mutual benefit, and mutual respect.
The U.S. is Indonesia’s strategic partner for security and economy, and I am pleased to witness how our relations (inaudible), even during the pandemic. And I highly appreciate the U.S. support for Indonesia, including on vaccine.
And today we have another opportunity to further discuss how best to advance our cooperation, not only for our bilateral interests but also for regional and global peace, stability, and prosperity.
And as Indonesia takes the role of the country coordinator for ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue, I look forward to working closely with you in advancing ASEAN-U.S. partnership. And the global effort of the partnership is even more relevant as Indonesian assumes presidency of G20 next year.
As my president mentioned yesterday, Indonesia priorities in G20 are in line with our long-term partnership (inaudible) physical transformation.
So I am very confident that the U.S. will support Indonesia presidency to ensure that all of us can build back together, build back stronger. So looking forward to working with your administration in the years ahead.
Thank you very much, and (inaudible).
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you so much, thank you for the wonderful hospitality today and the support Indonesia has given over these past months. And I have to say it’s wonderful to be back in Jakarta.
President Biden and President Jokowi had a very productive conversation in Glasgow, as you mentioned, and President Biden was eager for me to have a chance to follow up with you (inaudible), the work that we’re doing together, which is really why I’m here.
And to your point, I think what’s so striking is the partnership that we have is bilateral, it’s regional, and it’s global. And that’s really a reflection of the extraordinary leadership that Indonesia is exerting, particularly at a regional level through ASEAN, and also now on a global level with the leadership of the G20.
And our own partnership, particularly focused on things that are really having an impact on the lives of our citizens (inaudible) doing together with COVID-19, and global health, whether it’s advancing the work that we’re doing to deal with climate change, or whether it’s making smart investments in the future that are going to really benefit the lives of our citizens, we are deepening all of that (inaudible) so I’m very, very pleased to be here.
I had an opportunity this morning also to speak to our broader mission for the region that we share in the Indo-Pacific. And there again, our partnership is really central to that.
So thank you again for having us, and we really appreciate all the good work that’s actually getting done. Thank you.