WASHINGTON: In quiet, behind-the-scene diplomacy, both Indonesia and the United States are struggling to resolve the controversy over the abrupt cancellation of a US entry visa issued to Indonesia’s top army general.
Though the US side has apologised for the incident and blamed it on a technical glitch, the Indonesian side says that there has been no “proper explanation” as to what exactly transpired that caused the problem.
While Indonesia has already expressed its anger over the incident, experts and officials familiar with Asean affairs fear that the incident could spin out of control and also affect bilateral ties.
The visa glitch revolves around Indonesia’s top general Gatot Nurmantyo who was stopped, as he was about to board an Emirates flight on Saturday from Jakarta to Washington, and told that he could not board the plane because of some – at that time – unspecified visa problem.
The general had been invited by his US counterpart, General Joseph F. Dunford Jr, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to attend a conference on counter-extremism.
Although the US ambassador to Indonesia and his deputy have both offered apologies to Indonesia and to the general for the incident, attributing it to a technical glitch in security-screening, the incident has kicked a row in Indonesian government circles with Gatot decided not to avail of the re-booking on another flight.
A US official, preferring to remain anonymous, acknowledged that the incident had caused embarrassment and that anti-US signs had appeared the next day around the Indonesian capital.
US diplomats in Jakarta were busy trying to repair the damage done to bilateral relations. The US Embassy quickly issued a statement, assuring that it was, and remained, prepared to facilitate the General’s travel to the United States.
“We remain committed to our strategic partnership with Indonesia as a way to deliver security and prosperity to both our nations and peoples,” the statement said.
The snub to General Gatot was, however, taken as a national insult, with the Indonesian foreign ministry saying that the apology did not go far enough.
Indeed, foreign minister Retno Marsudi described the matter as “very important” and said that Indonesia would insist on an explanation from Washington.
Meanwhile, Indonesian media has described the incident as a “diplomatic scandal” and the hitherto US explanation as an “outstanding ignorance of the gravity of the incident”. -- Bernama