RI to sign treaty with Australia<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesia and Australia next week will sign a
\nhistoric agreement which, for the first time provides a formal
\nframework in which they can address common security problems,
\nMinister\/State Secretary Moerdiono announced here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating made a simultaneous
\nannouncement in Canberra on the Agreement on Maintaining
\nSecurity, which will be signed in Jakarta on Monday by the two
\ncountries' foreign ministers.<\/p>\n
Keating and President Soeharto will witness the signing as
\nwill their defense ministers and military chiefs.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono, who is accompanying President Soeharto attending
\nthe ASEAN summit, told reporters that the two neighboring
\ncountries fully realized that the stability of the region and of
\nthe world was of common interest to Indonesia and Australia.<\/p>\n
"Without national, regional and international stability,
\ndevelopment cannot possibly proceed," he said.<\/p>\n
He underlined that the agreement, the result of negotiations
\nlasting a year and half, is not a defense or a military pact.<\/p>\n
It will only formalize existing security cooperation programs
\nbetween the two countries, including joint exercises and exchange
\nvisits of military officers from the two countries, he said.<\/p>\n
"The agreement will contribute to the stability of the region
\nand the world. It will strengthen the friendly ties that have
\nbeen forged between us," he said, adding also that the two
\ncountries have agreed not to interfere in one another's affairs.<\/p>\n
Indonesian officials in Bangkok said the agreement provides a
\nforum for consultation and possible joint responses when the
\nsecurity of either state is threatened from external, but not
\nfrom internal powers.<\/p>\n
Consultations<\/p>\n
The one-and-a-half page document provides for consultations
\nbetween ministers on mutual security interests and the promotion
\nof security cooperation through joint exercises, the officials
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Keating told a news conference in Canberra that he proposed
\nthe agreement to President Soeharto, and that they have been
\nconsulting on this for the last 18 months, including when they
\nmet in Bali in September and in Osaka, Japan, in November.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the draft agreement was approved by his
\ncabinet, Keating described the accord as having "treaty status".<\/p>\n
Keating plans to fly to Indonesia on Sunday. His entourage
\nwill include Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, Defense Minister
\nRobert Ray and Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. John Baker AC.<\/p>\n
The prime minister also attributed the agreement to Gen. Peter
\nGration, the former defense force chief who acted as a personal
\nemissary in negotiating the agreement with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"The agreement asserts in formal terms for the first time that
\nAustralia and Indonesia have common interests in the peace and
\nsecurity of the region and that we intend to co-operate in
\nsupport of those interests," Keating said, according to a
\ntranscript of his media conference, made available by the
\nAustralian embassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"The agreement is intended to make an enduring and powerful
\nassertion within the region and outside that the long-term
\nstrategic interests of Australia and Indonesia coincide."<\/p>\n
"It's not a defense pact or alliance with automatic support in
\nthe event of an attack," he added.<\/p>\n
Australia was no threat to Indonesia nor is Indonesia a threat
\nto Australia, he said. "This has been the basis of our defense
\nplanning for many years. But it is important that it is
\nunderstood by the people of each country."<\/p>\n
"You also remember me saying that the emergence of President
\nSoeharto's New Order government in the 1960s was the event of
\nmost positive strategic significance to Australia in the post-war
\nyears," he said.<\/p>\n
"The consequences for Australia of having a hostile or even
\nunfriendly government in Indonesia over that period would have
\nbeen incalculable including for the percentage of our national
\nresources we would have spent, or would be spending, on defense.<\/p>\n
Australia's small military is one of the most technically
\nadvanced in the region. Indonesia's armed forces, relatively
\nsmall considering its large population, are under-equipped and
\ngeared largely to civic works and protecting internal security.<\/p>\n
"I am convinced that Australia and Indonesia have much to
\ncontribute in partnership. I think we have a great opportunity
\nhere to shape the security environment of the region," Keating
\nsaid. (mds\/emb)<\/p>\n
Reaction -- Page 2<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>\n
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