Monday, April 28, 2008
Britain to Help Indonesia Deal with Defense Challenges
Source: The Jakarta Post
United Kingdom military chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup last week met here with his Indonesian counterpart, Gen. Djoko Santoso, and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono to discuss ways to enhance military cooperation between the two countries. The Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik spoke with Stirrup about the UK's role in helping the Indonesian Military (TNI) counter security threats facing both countries.
Question: How do you see Indonesia-Britain military relations?
Answer: United Kingdom and Indonesia have had good relations for a long time, and so has the UK military and the TNI. I've been coming here from time to time for 20 years now. But over the last few years in particular it's become clear to many people that not only are the opportunities that we need to exploit together globally, in terms of global trade and economic growth, but also the challenges that we face in the 21st century, for example climate change and global terrorism.
The only way you can respond to those kinds of challenges is of course globally, which means friends and like-minded people around the world coming together to discuss the issues and to agree on common and coherent response to them. And of course military plays an important part of that.
The Indonesian Military has had difficulties in dealing with its obsolete military equipment, with several of its helicopters and planes crashing recently. How can the UK help Indonesia in this regard?
Well, first of all of course, this is a very difficult challenge for Indonesia because any government only has so much money to spend. And the Indonesian government, like any other governments, has to deliver a number of things for its people.
Of course, security of people is the first responsibility of any government. But security and defense depend upon a good economy. So, maintaining economic growth is important for the nation as a whole but actually also important for the military.
So, the government has a difficult balancing act in deciding how to spend its money. And that must be a judgment for Indonesia to make.
From my perspective, what I am able to do is to talk to my counterparts here and others at the TNI about our experiences, and what we have found particularly useful in the current strategic environment and in the light of the challenges that we face today.
What kind of experiences have you shared with your Indonesian counterparts?
For example, in a meeting with my counterparts yesterday, I was talking about the experiences that we have with unmanned vehicles because intelligence is a key requirement for any military operation. Surveillance is always an important capability, and unmanned vehicles have given us a whole new way of developing our surveillance capabilities, and developing our wider intelligence base.
Whether or not that is suitable for the TNI at this moment in time is not for me to judge. I can't say what the TNI should be adopting as a priority for recapitalization. The TNI will decide whether or not they are useful to them at this moment in time.
Is there any plan from Indonesia to buy military equipment from Britain?
Well, as said yesterday, I am not an arms salesman. I don't come here to sell equipment or plug equipment. I come here to talk about military challenges and how to deal with it. The UK does produce some pretty good military equipment, and I am sure that if Indonesia is interested in buying any, they will find a lot of people willing to sell them in the UK. But what Indonesia buys and where to buy it is for Indonesia to decide.
If Indonesia does decide to buy military equipment we use in our armed forces, then we are always happy to talk about our experiences of using them, looking at the possibility of training or just generally helping our friends at the TNI with the introduction of that equipment.
How real do you see the threat of terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region?
The threat of terrorism is real throughout the world. Terrorism of course is a tactic that can be used by all sorts of different people. The advantage that terrorism brings to certain groups is a way of applying illegal violence without having a lot of resources. It's illegal violence used against women, children and against other non-combatants.
Since terrorism is a tactic that is used globally then again our response to it must be global. We can't do it on a nation by nation basis. We must do it together.
How important is Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations in fighting terrorism?
The Asia-Pacific region is extremely important because of its economic growth and its global impacts. For all of us in this globalized world, the Asia-Pacific region is somewhere where we must engage. But we engage most effectively through friends within the region.
And Indonesia is a very large and potentially very powerful country within the region, and therefore it is one of our most important friends in the region.
