The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has wrapped up his Asian tour in Jakarta where he is aiming to reaffirm the US’s new focus on Asia.
The visit starts of with a bang.
John Kerry, opens his visit to Indonesia at southeast Asia's largest mosque
The secretary's main agenda in the 3 day visit is climate change. Kerry aims to continue the momentum of a newly forged carbon reduction deal in Beijing. He speaks passionately in front of scholars and dignitaries in the capital.
John Kery, known to focus most of his tenure in Middle East affairs, issued a statement from the Indonesian capital. He says, "Refused to open up one moment of discussion legitimately about a transition government, and it is very clear that Bashar al-Assad is continuing to try to win on the battlefield instead of coming to the negotiating table."
Kerry's comments came after a second round of Syria's peace talks ended over the weekend with little progress.
Secretary Kerry's visit to the region, aims to reaffirm the US new pivot to Asia, and although he had quite a productive visit, many analysts are still unconvinced.
But his visit remains fruitful, Kerry, along with his Indonesian counterpart, signed an MoU to further strengthen the 2 countries' comprehensive partnership and one MoU to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking.
And during that meeting secretary John Kerry and Indonesian foreign minister also discusses regional issues, namely the South China Sea issue.
Marty Natalegawa, Indonesian Foreign Minister, says, "Thanks to all the parties concerned, efforts of all parties concerned, we now have a situation where China and ASEAN are working, having formal consultations on the code of conduct, so there's nothing that's broken except the need for all of us to apply ourselves seriously."
Secretary John Kerry also added that this code of conduct will be crucial in avoiding conflict in the troubled waters.
