Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has declared relations with Indonesia critical to US efforts to mend ties with the Islamic world, after arriving in the country on her tour of east Asia.

"Building a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia is a critical step on behalf of the United States commitment to smart power to ... speak to a country that has demonstrated that Islam and modernity can not only co-exist but thrive together," Clinton said.

It was "no accident" that Indonesia had been picked for her trip, Clinton said, after arriving in Jakarta on Wednesday on the second leg of her tour.

The US secretary of state is seeking to vitalise economic and diplomatic ties with the world's most populous Muslim nation as the US struggles with recession.

'Bended knee'

Karim Raslan, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera: "She comes on bended knee from the largest debtor nation in the world ... a supplicant visiting her country's largest creditors."

But he said there was limited scope for economic co-operation between Indonesia and the US in the wake of the global slowdown.

"The most important thing would be for a country like Indonesia to be raised to become a close economic ally of the US … and that is something the US should do for Indonesia," he said.

He said Indonesia was a vital creditor for the US, as economic reports released by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday showed the US economy was declining worse than expected.

After talks with Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia's foreign minister, Clinton said the two nations intended to co-operate in areas ranging from climate change to security and counter-terrorism.  

Security tightened

Security had been stepped up in Jakarta in advance of Clinton's arrival.

Thousands of policemen were deployed across the Indonesian capital as officials prepared for any anti-US demonstrations.

Indonesia has had a love-hate relationship with the US since the 1960s, marked by US support for Suharto, who was viewed by many as a military dictator and was ousted as president in 1998.

Many Indonesians also oppose the "war on terror" launched by the previous US administration of George Bush.

But analysts say Barack Obama, the current US president, who spent several years of his youth living in Jakarta, could be trying to capitalise on his emotional ties to Indonesia as he seeks to improve relations with the Muslim world.