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WILMINGTON, United States: US President Joe Biden will urge Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo to take on a larger role in resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict in talks at the White House on Monday (Nov 13), US officials said.
The meeting had been aimed at showing unity ahead of Biden’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco this week, with Washington trying to counter Beijing in the Asia-Pacific region.
But the devastating conflict in the Gaza Strip will now loom over the talks between Biden, who has firmly backed Israel, and Widodo, the leader of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
“I think it will be critical to hear the perspectives from Indonesia, about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” a senior US administration official said in a call with reporters on Sunday.
“I think the president will look to Indonesia to play a larger role as we go forward there.”
This would include the “ceasefire issue” but also long-term goals such as a two-state solution after the war and rebuilding the shattered Gaza Strip, the US official said.
Biden “is going to want to listen carefully to what President Widodo heard” during a joint summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday during which leaders condemned Israel’s “barbaric” actions in Gaza.
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