East Timor and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 2002. Both share the island of Timor. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed East Timor in 1976, maintaining East Timor as its 27th province until a United Nations-sponsored referendum in 1999, in which the people of East Timor chose independence. Following a United Nations interim administration, East Timor gained independence in 2002. Indonesia already had a consulate in Dili during the Portuguese colonial period, though Indonesia formalized their relations by establishing an embassy in Dili. Since October 2002, East Timor has an embassy in Jakarta and consulates in Denpasar and Kupang. Relations between the two countries are generally considered highly positive, despite various problems. Numerous agreements regulate cooperation in different areas. East Timorese are visa-free in Indonesia.
Historical background
East Timor occupies the east of the island of Timor. In addition, the country includes an exclave in the west of the island and two other small islands. Indonesia owns the rest of Timor and all neighbouring islands to the west, north and east. Portugal took control of the territory that would become known as Portuguese Timor in the middle of the 18th century, and maintained the eastern half of the island (West Timor was a Dutch possession until World War II) as a colony. The land border with Indonesia is 228 km long. The course of the border had been 97% fixed since 2006.
Sukarno's government's view of East Timor
The territory of Indonesia emerged from the colony of the Dutch East Indies in 1945, while East Timor remained as a colony of Portuguese Timor. During this time, Indonesia did not express any interest in Portuguese Timor. Though at one point, Indonesia was accused of being behind two rebellions against the Portuguese. On Sukarno's visit to Portugal in 1961, Sukarno reportedly assured Dr. Salazar that Portuguese rights on Timor would be respected. As another response, Indonesian diplomats stressed and repeatedly declared to the United Nations in 1963 that their country had no interest in territories outside the former Dutch East Indies. Portuguese Timor was explicitly and specifically mentioned here. The reason for this was also the tying up of Indonesian forces in West New Guinea, where they were trying to legitimize and consolidate power from the Dutch. Doubts remained about the statement, however, due to the prevalent anti western-colonial polemics and rhetoric taken by the government of Indonesia and the public under President Sukarno's Old order (orde lama).
Under the New Order
When Portugal's left-leaning Carnation Revolution succeeded in 1974, Portugal declared its intent to give its former colony independence and local parties formed, intending to contest East Timor's first free elections scheduled for 1976. And with the downfall of Sukarno after the 30 September Movement, Indonesia's government was now led by a western oriented and ardent anti-communist; General Suharto. Indonesia, then firmly-rooted in the anti-Soviet camp in Southeast Asia, was alarmed by the left-leaning parties that looked set to win that election. With this, the newly made East Timorese party, Timorese Popular Democratic Association (APODETI), was financed by the New Order Government and propagated the annexation to Indonesia. Support for this among the East Timorese population was limited. When it became apparent that the leftist Fretilin would probably take over the leadership of the country in elections, the conservative Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) attempted a coup d'état in August 1975. However, Fretilin emerged victorious from the short civil war. The Portuguese administration had withdrawn from the colonial capital Dili. UDT and APODETI supporters fled to Indonesia. As a result, Indonesian troops, disguised as supporters of these parties, occupied the border regions of East Timor. To counter the threat, Fretilin unilaterally declared independence on 28 November 1975. Indonesia responded by reporting that the leaders of UDT, APODETI and other parties had signed the so-called Balibo Declaration on 30 November 1975, calling for East Timor's annexation to Indonesia. However, the declaration, a draft of the Indonesian secret service, was signed in Bali and not in Balibo, probably under pressure from the Indonesian government. The signatories were more or less prisoners of Indonesia. Xanana Gusmão called the paper the "Balibohong Declaration", a pun on the Indonesian word for "lie" (bohong).