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