Obama pledges to make trip to Indonesia after twice postponing visits to Asia this year
By Jeannine Aversa, APSunday, June 27, 2010
Obama confident he’ll make trip back to Indonesia
TORONTO — President Barack Obama insists he’ll make it to Indonesia yet.
He’s twice postponed presidential trips to the country where he lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather between age 6 and 10.
Obama held a meeting Sunday at the global economic summit in Toronto with Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. And while Obama didn’t announce a new date for the trip, Obama did say, “I am confident we are going to get there.”
Trips were set to Indonesia and Australia this year but pressing domestic matters — the health care debate in Congress and later the Gulf of Mexico oil spill — led to the delays.
The United States and Indonesia have a strong relationship, Obama said, and he looked forward to making it even stronger.
Two challenges, he said, are working to promote climate change and improving education for young people.
Yudhoyono agreed and said he was pleased by the two countries’ common interests.
