The Government is reportedly undertaking a far-reaching review of the nation's foreign relationships. As we have previously noted, this is not before time.

Papua New Guinea has had a foreign policy structured on the foundation of friends to all and enemies to none. That policy has served PNG well. At the same time and under various leaders, certain emphases have been tried and some have become a part of our relationships.

We refer to the look north policy and the later emphasis upon the South Pacific and our neighbours in the region.

There remains one issue that has not been reviewed for many years. That is the country's relationship with the people of Papua in Indonesia.

Since independence, PNG has pursued a policy of detachment from the demands of the Melanesian people of that province for autonomy or independence.

This was highlighted in a report in The National yesterday in which Foreign Affairs Minister Abal made it clear that "this is an issue we don't consider that should be brought into the Melanesian Spearhead Group."

MSG Foreign Ministers are meeting in Vanuatu and the host country has moved to have the Papuans granted observer status. PNG has stated categorically that it won't have the Indonesian Papuans in the group.

Having observed our relationship with Indonesia long before independence, we are of the opinion that pretending the Papua issue doesn't exist will achieve nothing for PNG and could even be counter-productive for our relations with Indonesia.

That nation pursued an aggressive policy of trans-migration in past decades that saw thousands of Muslim Indonesians transplanted into a territory where the main religious inroads had been made by Christianity.

Former Indonesian governments used what was known as West Irian to re-settle families from some of the more overcrowded parts of the world's largest Muslim nation. When PNG gained independence, it was natural for our governments to seek to maintain the closest possible relationships between our country and our Indonesian neighbours.

Our tiny population, our token defence forces and the development at that time of our country doubtless contributed to this play-safe philosophy.

At the same time, Australia, our own territorial power, was at pains to develop relations with Indonesia and had no wish to see any interruption to the status quo erupting in PNG.

Today it is much harder to justify a narrow-minded foreign policy that simply ignores the outcry from our immediate neighbours.

If PNG can entertain the possibility of independence for Bougainville, it would seem to make little sense to ignore the ethnic Melanesian majority next door in Papua.

The outcome of the Melanesian struggle for autonomy or independence in that Indonesian province may well be years away, but we predict that in the end, full or part independence will come to the province.

And if it does, PNG's relationship over the years with those fighting for a measure of freedom over the border will come under close scrutiny.

It may well be that we would be better off to at least listen to the representatives of those people at the current MSG meeting and show some humanity towards their cause.

Does our government fear some form of invasion from Indonesia? Surely not, given the cordial relationships that presently exist.

It seems to us that blocking our ears to the proven distress of the ethnic people of Papua is short-sighted and may lead eventually to a high level of confrontation across our borders.

To others in the region and presumably to Vanuatu, PNG's attitude must be paradoxical and they could be forgiven if they believed that attitude is fuelled by fear of the giant neighbour at our side.

Ironically, yesterday's paper carried an excellent report of the grief that surrounded the funeral of gifted student leader Michael Horota Tekwie, who collapsed and died ten days ago at the age of 24.

The UPNG vice-chancellor described Tekwie as "a young man of exceptional capacity and vision," and the death of the final year Law student and vice-president of the Student Representative Council at UPNG was mourned by all the university.

Ironical then that this outstanding young man Michael Horota Tekwie was a refugee from Indonesian Papua adopted by the former Sandaun Governor John Tekwie.