Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Canberra's strained relationship with Jakarta was highlighted at the Apec summit over the weekend when Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri refused to meet Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda played down the rift, saying Ms Megawati could not schedule a meeting, even though she met leaders from Singapore, Peru, China, New Zealand, South Korea and Canada. "As you know, arrangements for meetings had been made some time before, and President Megawati had a busy schedule while she was here," he told a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Mr Howard received scathing criticism from both the opposition Labor Party and Australian papers for failing to set up a meeting to discuss the tide of illegal immigrants who use Indonesia as a stepping stone on their journey to Australia. "If you want a permanent fix to the problems of penetration of our borders by illegal immigrants, you have to get as part of the solution an agreement with Indonesia," said Labor Party leader Kim Beazley. "It's quite evident that John Howard can't do that." Indonesian papers have speculated that Ms Megawati is annoyed with Mr Howard for his criticism of Indonesia's changing position over the United States-led attacks on Afghanistan. However, commentators said the diplomatic stand-off began when Mr Howard insisted publicly that Indonesia should accept 433 boat people stranded just off Australian waters.

"Personally, she is probably irritated and wouldn't want to meet him and probably doesn't like the man. She's meeting all the people she wants to meet who will be far more beneficial," said Mr Harold Crouch from the International Crisis Group, a consultancy for political issues. Ms Megawati would be far more interested in tying up trade and aid deals than discussing the relatively insignificant problem of stopping a few hundred illegal immigrants, particularly as Indonesia has 1.3 million internal refugees, said Mr Crouch.

But in Australia, preventing the flow of illegal immigrants, many of whom come from Afghanistan, has become a hot political issue. Both Indonesian and Australian editorials have accused Mr Howard of using the illegal immigrants issue to win votes ahead of next month's national elections, while damaging Australia's relationship with Indonesia.

Mr Howard's popularity soared when he turned back 433 stranded refugees last month. "The Howard government is determined to keep the asylum seekers issue offshore, and its determination is clearly driven by domestic political considerations," said an editorial in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald. "Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on naval patrols and processing centres in the Pacific is clearly unsustainable. Only regional cooperation, based on mutual respect, can produce enduring solutions. This requires committed, long-term diplomacy, starting with a fresh approach to Indonesia."

Meanwhile, the influential Media Indonesia in its editorial called Mr Howard a "childish politician who does not know neighbourhood ethics, and is slightly racist". The paper also accused him of meddling in Indonesia's domestic affairs.

It suggested that Indonesia should ignore the "irritating voice of the country, once the home of criminals from Britain".