Agence France Presse in Tokyo – Australian Prime Minister John Howard sought to move beyond past acrimony at yesterday's summit with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, the first since the East Timor crisis.

"My meeting with the President of Indonesia was extremely positive," Mr Howard told a news conference after the summit, held on the sidelines of a memorial in Tokyo for deceased Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi.

"The relations between the two countries, I think, have benefited enormously from the meeting that we held today," the Australian Prime Minister said. "Both of us agree that we should focus on the future and put the past behind us. Neither of us pretended that there have not been problems in the past, but neither of us wanted to dwell on that."

Relations have been frayed since October last year, when Australia led an international peace force to East Timor to put down a killing spree by Indonesian-backed militias after the former Portuguese colony had voted for independence.

Mr Howard described Mr Wahid as "a man of great charm" and said he had told the Indonesian leader he would be welcome to visit Australia whenever he wanted. Mr Wahid is expected to visit Australia in July.

Earlier Mr Wahid agreed it was time for reconciliation, but he said any state visit by him to Australia was still hostage to ill-feeling in Indonesia over East Timor and alleged Australian backing for separatists in Irian Jaya, or West Papua. "Many people in Indonesia now object to my visiting Australia because there are Australians who have aided the creation of independence for the Papuan people," Mr Wahid said.