Sympathy a sign of future relations: PM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott believes Indonesia's offer of sympathy for the deaths of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran is a sign the strong relationship between the two nations can be resumed.

"It's a sign that decent people in Indonesia appreciate the anger that Australians feel at these cruel and unnecessary deaths," he told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

Mr Abbott was responding to a statement by Indonesian Ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, Jakarta's first diplomatic response to the recall of Australia's envoy as protest against the execution of the Bali Nine ringleaders.