THE executions of eight drug convicts by Indonesia have been condemned by Australia, Brazil and the United Nations. But while analysts do not expect any long-term damage to diplomatic relations, they say people-to-people ties may suffer.

Relations between Indonesia and Australia range from joint military exercises to bilateral trade. Indonesia accounts for about half of total live cattle exports from Australia.

Two young Australians were among those executed by firing squad on Wednesday. The Australian government said Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 34 had been reformed during 10 years in an Indonesian prison. Chan had become a Christian minister and led prayers in prison, while Sukumaran spent time teaching English to fellow inmates.

… Leonard C. Sebastian, coordinator of Indonesia programme at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said good relations benefit both countries significantly.

“People-to-people links may suffer more than the government-to-government links,” he said.

“As the memorial services take place in Australia, this issue will be high-profile in the Australian media, and hence there is likelihood it would have some short-term repercussions for people-to-people links between Australia and Indonesia, particularly affecting sectors like tourism.”