THE US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, arrived in Jakarta yesterday for a historic two-day visit that aims to reassert US interests in the region after a decade of declining influence.
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Mrs Clinton was serenaded on her arrival by children from President Barack Obama's old school in Jakarta. Her visit is the first by a US secretary of state to South-East Asia on an inaugural overseas trip.
The trip is intended to boost ties with the nation with the world's largest Muslim population at a time when the image of the US in the Islamic world is tarnished. Mrs Clinton is also in Jakarta to reach out to the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
"The key objective is to get Indonesia to lead much more in ASEAN, so it can play a much more significant role in East Asia," said C.P.F. Luhulima, a professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia.
Professor Luhulima said an invigorated ASEAN, led by democracies such as Indonesia and sympathetic to the US agenda, could provide a crucial counterbalance to China's influence in the region.
Indonesia is the largest country in ASEAN, both economically and in terms of population. In December, ASEAN nations signed a treaty aimed at creating a European Union-style community of 500million people.
The treaty puts a human rights obligation on each ASEAN state. Pressing for reform in Burma - the military dictatorship is a member of ASEAN - is one example where an Indonesian-led effort could make a difference, analysts said.
The former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was renowned for snubbing ASEAN summits while focusing on conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. But Mrs Clinton visited ASEAN's headquarters yesterday. And if, as anticipated, the US signs ASEAN's treaty of amity and co-operation, it will create a new era of enhanced relations.
In contrast to her predecessor, Mrs Clinton has outsourced the time-consuming diplomatic nitty-gritty in Afghanistan and the Middle East to special envoys, giving her more time to concentrate on Asia, which she has identified as the rising region this century.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama's ties to Indonesia - he lived there for four years as a child and is regarded as something of a national hero - paves the way for a renewal in a relationship that has slipped since the Soeharto era.
Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will meet Mrs Clinton today, has spoken of a possible "strategic partnership" between the two countries and urged the US to do more to project its "soft power" effectively.
A scheduled visit today by Mrs Clinton to a kampung, or traditional neighbourhood, in Jakarta to mix with the locals and inspect aid projects is one sign that the US is heeding Mr Yudhoyono's message.
So, too, is Mrs Clinton's suggestion that the US renew its program to send members of the Peace Corps to Indonesia. The program was abandoned in the 1960s.
Mrs Clinton is likely to praise Indonesia's predominantly moderate brand of Islam and its successes in curbing terrorist activity. Tentative plans for her to visit a mosque and meet clerics have been shelved, however. "We don't want this visit to be seen through the prism of Islam," said a US official. "Indonesia is a secular country and should be seen for what it is."
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country, but 15 per cent of its 245million people follow other faiths such as Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.
