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 Examining Indonesia's leadership development more closely on a global scale

The world's attention has shifted to Indonesia in the past several years due to its leadership position in the global arena.

This has been evident over the past two years, as the nation has shown its leadership by hosting two significant international gatherings: the ASEAN Summit in 2023 and the G20 Summit in 2022.

With the success of the G20 Summit, which took place in Bali in November 2022, Indonesia has demonstrated its significant influence on the global stage.

The principal platform for international economic cooperation is the Group of Twenty (G20), which is made up of the world's most powerful economies. The European Union and 19 other countries make up the G20.

In 2022, Indonesia presided over the G20 amid escalating geopolitical tensions brought on by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

At that time, despite tensions between some Western nations and Russia over the Russia-Ukraine war, Indonesia had to organize for all G20 members to come and gather together to discuss shared interests in their role as G20 president.

Despite the conflict and difficulties, Indonesia's leadership during the G20 Summit produced a number of agreements, the most significant of which was the G20 leaders' declaration, also referred to as the G20 Bali Leaders Declaration, about which several parties had first expressed skepticism.

The perspective for the conflict in Ukraine is the most hotly contested paragraph in the 52-paragraph document.

The G20 leaders finally agreed on the declaration's contents, which included denouncing the war in Ukraine for violating territorial integrity and boundaries, despite a contentious debate on the paragraph pertaining to the conflict in that country.

In addition, the G20 Presidency of Indonesia marked a turning point in the country's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and served as an occasion for Indonesia to effectively demonstrate its leadership in addressing global issues.

Chairmanship of ASEAN

In addition, Indonesia has exercised regional leadership throughout 2023 as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) chairman.

Indonesia has faced many difficulties as the ASEAN chairman during the G20 presidency, including intense pressure to act quickly to address the political unrest and humanitarian issues in Myanmar.

Under duress, Indonesia has done a rather good job of fulfilling its position as ASEAN Chairman, which has included firmly refusing to let political officials from Myanmar to attend any of the ASEAN meetings in 2023, including the 43rd Summit.

This is due to ASEAN's perception that the head of the Myanmar Junta was careless in carrying out the five points of consensus (5PC), which include concentrating on achieving an instantaneous end to hostilities, engaging in communication with all parties involved, designating a special envoy to assist in mediation and communication, permitting ASEAN to offer humanitarian aid to citizens of Myanmar, and permitting ASEAN special envoys to travel to and interact with parties in Myanmar.

On the other hand, Indonesia has kept up its interactions with different Myanmar stakeholders throughout its chairmanship.

According to Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, the country carried out a highly adaptable and thorough engagement to assist in resolving the situation in Myanmar during the nine months that it chaired ASEAN.

In fact, by continuing to strive to handle the Myanmar conflict through the ASEAN troika framework, Indonesia would continue to show its leadership position in resolving regional issues even after Lao PDR takes over as ASEAN chairperson.

Troika is an informal ASEAN consulting mechanism made up of the ASEAN chairs from the past, present, and future.

Indonesia will make sure that access to humanitarian aid is progressively increased through its participation in the troika, especially in parts of Myanmar that are still experiencing active violence.

In addition to spearheading efforts to address political issues within ASEAN, Indonesia, as the ASEAN Chair for 2023, has promoted the economic development of member nations.

Indonesia showed that it was eager to promote ASEAN economic growth when it chose the topic "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth" for its presidency.

Thus, the emphasis of the 43rd ASEAN Summit, which Indonesia hosted, was on enhancing economic cooperation, especially through the organization of two complementary events: the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF) and the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS).

Indonesia is eager to promote collaboration in the development of tangible projects through the AIPF, which will take place on September 5–6, 2023. This is particularly true in three areas: financing, digitization and creative industries, and green infrastructure and supply chain resilience.

AIS Forum

Following a successful tenure as ASEAN chairman, Indonesia hosted the October meetings of the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum that same year.

The forum's goal is to improve cooperation between archipelagic and island nations on maritime issues that have grown to be global concerns, such as the blue economy, marine plastic waste, mitigation and adaptation of climate change, and effective maritime governance.

On October 10–11, 2023, the forum convened its inaugural high-level gathering in Bali with the aim of reinforcing its position as a hub for astute and inventive ideas.

The 51-nation AIS forum serves as a venue for collaboration among members in advancing the agenda for future global ocean governance.

Indonesia has once again shown itself to be a global leader in the field of climate change leadership by organizing the AIS Forum, which focuses on practical ways to protect island and archipelagic nations from the effects of climate change.

In reality, Indonesia has committed to contribute US$5 million in funding for the 2022–2025 term, as one of the founding members of the AIS Forum.

As part of efforts to boost international cooperation, Indonesia has already contributed US$1 million to the establishment of an AIS Forum secretariat office in Jakarta for the year 2019.

With 51 countries participating and a third of the world's maritime areas under national authority of each archipelagic and island nation, the AIS forum, which is about to enter its fifth year, has the potential to grow into a major power.

In global organizations like the United Nations (UN), these 51 countries possess significant bargaining strength and capacity that will undoubtedly be taken into consideration for their future.

As a result, ongoing and enhanced cooperation at the AIS Forum is required going forward.

The significance of the connection between the sea and climate change has been demanded by Indonesia.

Through those numerous forums, Indonesia and the rest of the world community—including nations covered by AIS—have made a substantial contribution to offering answers for a range of global issues.

WWF

Additionally, Indonesia will continue to take the lead in addressing numerous global issues in the coming year. One example of this will be the 10th World Water Forum (WWF), which is set to take place in Bali in May. The forum wants to raise awareness of water resources around the world.

The largest worldwide forum in the world for addressing water-related concerns and looking for global solutions is the WWF.

May 18–24, 2024, is when the forum's tenth edition, with the topic "Water for Shared Prosperity," is planned.

It is anticipated that the 2024 WWF, which Indonesia will host in Bali, will give international stakeholders impetus to step up collaboration on water management and to share knowledge and ideas in order to solve connected problems worldwide.

In addition to organizing numerous international forums and events that aid in addressing numerous global issues, Indonesia continues to show off its leadership role by attempting to resolve various geopolitical issues diplomatically, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the Myanmar crisis.

Every diplomatic endeavor and responsibility Indonesia has undertaken as a member of the international community has demonstrated the advancement of Indonesia's leadership on a worldwide scale.

   Source en.antaranews.com