Bishop plays down rift with Indonesia

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has played down talk of an rift with Indonesia following allegations Australia paid cash to people smugglers.

Ms Bishop and Indonesian ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema attended a gathering of diplomats from middle power countries including Mexico, Korea and Turkey in Canberra on Wednesday.

"Of course from time to time there's disagreements and tensions," Ms Bishop told reporters after delivering the keynote speech.

In his speech, Mr Kesoema made a thinly-veiled swipe at Australia over relations with Indonesia.

"Since there is no major political conflict occurring in our respective region - although some deficit of political trust might happen bilaterally - we enjoy a condition sine qua non for promoting economic co-operation and people-to-people relationship," he said.