RI-Australia agreement

RI-Australia agreement

The signing last month of an Agreement on Maintaining Security between Indonesia and Australia truly represents a very important watershed in the bilateral relations between the two countries. It may not be a defense pact or alliance in the strict sense of the word whereby one country will automatically and immediately support the other country in the case of external attack. But it does provide for increasing consultations and cooperation in the event of "adverse challenges" to either country or to regional security, such as an escalation of conflicts in the South China Sea or actual military conflagration across the Taiwan Strait or elsewhere in the region. It is not too difficult to imagine that Indonesian and Australian troops could one day, under certain circumstances, be called upon to fight together against a common enemy.

In retrospect, the signing of the agreement is really a culmination of a long and sometimes tense relationship between the two close neighbors. For Australia, the agreement is part of a consistent drive to bring itself ever closer to Asia in general but Indonesia in particular. The unforgettable support given by Australia during our life and death struggle against the Dutch colonialists from 1945 to 1949, the granting of thousands of scholarships to Indonesians to study in Australian universities and colleges, the recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor as well as the teaching of Bahasa Indonesia in Australia from primary school up to university level are just some examples of the vast reservoir of goodwill shown by Australia.

Furthermore, the greater trust and friendship, which will inevitably be generated by this security agreement, could help Indonesia gain better access to some of Australia's more advanced scientific and industrial research organizations and technology, including military technology. Indeed, if Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has been saying that no country in the world is more important to Australia than Indonesia, we can say in return without exaggeration that Australia is one of our most important friends and partners, certainly no less important than ASEAN and Japan.

Another aspect of the accord is that it is by implication ample proof of Indonesia's peaceful intention and lack of territorial ambitions beyond its present borders. In fact, the agreement, together with the security treaty signed by ASEAN member countries in Bangkok last month, which declares the whole of South East Asia a nuclear free zone, should pave the way for the actual establishment of a long cherished ideal of ASEAN, namely a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality in South East Asia. With this ideal secured, Indonesia could then follow an even more assertive foreign policy in the world at large commensurate with its size and growing standing.

I think it is safe to say that the relationship between Indonesia and Australia has finally blossomed into a more mature and mutually advantageous symbiosis. Apart from providing benefits in security and other related fields, the new relationship will also give further impetus to young Indonesians to pursue university studies and research in Australia, which is after all an advanced western society next door to us.

True, the West has committed much inhumanity and injustice against Asians in the past few centuries, but no one can deny the fact that it is still the depository of some of the greatest assets and achievements of human civilization. Our young people, while in Australia, could therefore imbibe more of such largely western values as the vital importance of scientific inquiry, the willingness to challenge traditional assumptions and the fundamental belief in freedom and democracy.

MASLI ARMAN

Jakarta