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With East Timor out of the way, NZ-Indonesia relations will pick up, says Indonesia's envoy.
Indonesia's ambassador believes relations with New Zealand are on the mend.
Relations between New Zealand and Indonesia turned frosty in 1999 when New Zealand cut off military ties in protest at the bloodshed in East Timor after the territory voted for independence. Those ties haven't yet been restored.
But Ambassador Susanto Sutoyo believes relations could return to normal this year. New Zealand had been training Indonesian pilots, and Mr Sutoyo said he expected it would resume again. New Zealand is already helping with the establishment of an ombudsman position.
Mr Sutoyo said he didn't believe the East Timor issue would hurt relations between the countries. "East Timor as a problem...