Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda yesterday described Australia as the archipelago's "backyard" and said the government had no choice but to get along with Canberra.

"In the case of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia, we need to strengthen the relationship," Wirayuda told the National Parliament's foreign affairs commission. "This is because we have ASEAN [the Association of South-East Asian Nations] in our front yard and Australia in our backyard.

"We can choose our friends but we cannot choose our neighbours."

The comments come as the two countries prepare for Prime Minister John Howard to visit Jakarta and the ancient Javanese capital of Yogyakarta from February 6 to 8 on an official visit designed at lifting goodwill.

Wirayuda had been asked by a notoriously anti-Australian MP, Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, why efforts were being put into improving ties with Australia. Baharuddin cited the fallings out the two countries had had over Australia's military intervention in East Timor in 1999 and the stand-off over what to do with asylum seekers passing through Indonesia on their way to Australia.

Of the 17 questions presented to Wirayuda only one related to Australia while the overwhelming majority focused on Indonesia's position in the war against terrorism.