Indonesia-Taliban Diplomacy
With a fairly intense reciprocal relationship, the Indonesian government and other stakeholders can increase their role in rehabilitating Afghanistan. Helping the Taliban build an effective government.
Indonesia\'s position with regard to the Taliban is quite unique. It is one of the few countries that can be accepted by both of the sides caught up in conflict and fierce violence: the Afghan government under President Ashraf Ghani on the one hand and the Taliban resistance force on the other.
Indonesia\'s unique position is related to President Ashraf Ghani, Taliban high-ranking officials, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and former Vice President M Jusuf Kalla, who carried out a number of meetings with the two warring sides, not only in Kabul or Doha, but also in Jakarta.
Contacts, meetings and quite intensive talks with Taliban officials, especially since 2018, are historical assets and provide important access for Indonesia to "help" the Taliban government.
Middle power diplomacy
Afghanistan also has a unique position in Indonesia\'s diplomacy. It is the only country to be visited by a sitting president (President Jokowi on Jan. 29, 2018) and vice president (Jusuf Kalla, Feb. 28 to March 1, 2018) in the midst of ongoing conflicts and violence.
President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, along with all the delegates at the time, wore bulletproof vests and sat in vehicles that were also bulletproof after they got off the Indonesian presidential plane and set off toward the ARG Afghan presidential palace in Kabul.
Also read:
> Taliban, Afghanistan, and Indonesia
> There is No “Black and White” in Afghanistan
This has a precedent in President Soeharto\'s visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, to the capital city of Sarajevo, on March 11, 1995. Even though, on the previous day, the UN envoy\'s plane was shot down in Bosnian territory, President Soeharto insisted on flying, signing a statement with the UN establishing that he was ready to take his own risk.
Boarding a Russian-made plane, Pak Harto arrived in Sarajevo and was greeted by President Aliya Izetbegovic. Suharto awarded the country with the construction of the Muhammad Soeharto Mosque, whose name was later changed to Istiklal Dzamija (Jamid Istiqlal Mosque) when it was inaugurated in March 2001.
Conducting high-level diplomacy is the actualization of Indonesia\'s position and role as a "middle power". Indonesia is not yet a "superpower" like the United States or China.
If the role of the "middle power" can be realized again, the government will counter criticisms from international political observers that Indonesia is not punching at its weight. In fact, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world, the third largest democracy and has the fourth-largest population.
As a “middle power”, Indonesia has the potential to contribute to the reconstruction of Afghanistan under the Taliban government. Indonesia has great access to Taliban high-ranking officials. The Taliban apparently remain open to Indonesia, for example, by receiving Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi at the Taliban Representative Office in Qatar on Aug. 26, 2021.
Also read:
> Afghanistan, Neo-Taliban, Indonesia
> How ‘Batik’, ‘Peci’ and a Specific Identity Helped Save Evacuees
Retno Marsudi conveyed three undoubtedly important messages to the Taliban officials: forming an inclusive government, not making Afghanistan a breeding ground for radicalism and terrorism and respecting women\'s rights.
In subsequent diplomatic efforts, Indonesia can offer further assistance in developing government bureaucracy, improving human resources (HR) and empowering women and children, developing health, cooperating in the agricultural and mining fields, as well as providing scholarships for the younger generation to study at various educational levels in Indonesia.
In order to succeed in middle power diplomacy, the government must avoid the hit and run approach. The government must continue and be consistent with the approach of "soft diplomacy" and total diplomacy. The government must involve a number of caring parties in Indonesia, such as Islamic organizations, advocacy NGOs, philanthropic institutions, expert groups and educational institutions at various levels.
Wasathiyah Islamic diplomacy
Wasathiyah Islam, or middle path or justly balanced Islam, has become an important integrated part of Indonesia\'s public diplomacy in the international arena since the reform era. Indonesia\'s political changes with the transition and consolidation of democracy since 1999 strengthen the compatibility of democracy with Indonesian Islam and promote Wasathiyah Islam as the Muslim mainstream and a major part of the country’s public diplomacy.
Wasathiyah Islam is also an important part of Indonesia\'s diplomacy related to Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban. It is certain that President Ghani and his supporters are followers of the Middle Path Islam. With the Taliban, there have been a number of moments — and the writer was involved in some of them — that show the Taliban\'s interest in Indonesia’s Wasathiyah Islam.
The first are the meetings of Indonesian high-ranking officials, especially Jusuf Kalla, both when he was vice president and when he was no longer in office. He held two meetings with President Ghani in Kabul from Dec. 23 to 25, 2020, in his capacity as the general chairman of the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) and the chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).
Then, four meetings were held with Taliban delegations and high-ranking officials, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is mentioned as the top leader of the Taliban government, twice in Jakarta and twice in Doha (the last one in January 2021). Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also met high-ranking Taliban officials in Doha. This shows the Taliban are open to Indonesia.
Second, at the invitation of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Taliban and Pakistani ulema, together with the MUI, held a trilateral conference in Bogor. The conference, which was opened by President Jokowi and closed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, established the Bogor Declaration for Peace (11/5/2018), to enable the conflict in Afghanistan to be resolved peacefully.
In addition, from 2018 to 2019, the MUI separately held a dialogue with the Taliban delegation and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. During the meeting, besides suggesting a peaceful resolution of the conflicts, the MUI offered to allow the Taliban to send students to study in Indonesia.
Also read:
> Two Afghan Athletes Create Miracles
Third, at the end of August 2018 around 80 Afghan students (male and female) went to Indonesia to take part in the Wasathiyah Islamic "immersion program". For four months they lived in Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), received lessons from kyai (experts in Islam) and teachers and mingled with students at the Tazakka Modern Islamic Boarding School in Batang, Central Java and the Darul Ulum Lido Modern Islamic Boarding School in West Java.
Fourth, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) established the NU Afghanistan organization, which was structurally separate from the executive board of NU in Indonesia. Since its establishment in 2016, according to NU Online (20/6/2019), NU branch administrators have been established in 22 Afghan provinces and around 6,000 Afghan ulema have gotten involved.
In addition, the Indonesian government established the As-Salam Indonesia Islamic Center (IIC) Mosque in Kabul, which was inaugurated by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Aug. 9, 2016. Besides being a place of worship, the IIC also runs an early childhood education center and madrasa for Afghan children. A clinic was also built, with its first stone being laid by then-vice president Jusuf Kalla on Feb. 28, 2018. The IIC is also equipped with a library and guest house.
Afghan rehabilitation
With a fairly intense reciprocal relationship, the Indonesian government and other stakeholders can increase their role in rehabilitating Afghanistan. Helping the Taliban build an effective government, respecting human rights and women and developing moderate Islam is part of Indonesia\'s responsibility to continuously contribute to building long-lasting peace in Afghanistan and beyond.
Azyumardi Azra, Professor at UIN Jakarta; advisor for the College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar
This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.