RI, Australia sign accord on security
RI, Australia sign accord on security
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Australia yesterday added further substance to their warming relations, signing a security agreement which officials hope will lay to rest any fears toward Jakarta.
The Agreement on Maintaining Security was signed yesterday afternoon by Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and his Australian counterpart Gareth Evans at the Merdeka Palace, witnessed by President Soeharto and Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Indonesian Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said he hoped the agreement would dispel any fears Australians may have toward Indonesia.
Quoting Soeharto, Moerdiono said: "The President reiterated that the agreement should wipe out any doubts among certain elements in Australia about Indonesia's position."
During a meeting with Keating before the signing, Soeharto spoke about the ideals in Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, which asserts a respect for the sovereignty of other countries.
"Based on this, Indonesia does not have any aggressive tendencies towards any other country," Moerdiono said, quoting the President.
Comprised of a preamble and four articles, the security agreement requires both sides to undertake ministerial consultations on common security matters.
Both sides shall also consider the possibility of joint measures in the event of adverse challenges to either party or to their common security interests.
The agreement is seen by many as an umbrella which brings together various forms of defense cooperation, including those to be undertaken in the future.
Though relations between the two countries have been cordial, Indonesia has often been perceived as a potential threat to Australia.
Furthermore, although it has acknowledged the 1976 integration of East Timor as Indonesia's 27th province, Canberra has remained critical of Jakarta's human rights record in the former Portuguese colony.
After the signing, Keating told journalists that the agreement puts "the mortar in the bricks of the relationship" and helps establish the "environment for the region well into the next century."
He said that the agreement would do a lot to reduce suspicion, by making clear each country's strategic intentions toward the other.
Keating was accompanied on his visit by Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazly, Defense Minister Robert Ray and armed forces chief Gen. John Baker.
He and his entourage left Jakarta last night.
This is Keating's sixth visit to Indonesia since 1991. It came just as relations are rebounding from the strain caused by Indonesia's withdrawal of its ambassadorial candidate to Canberra earlier this year. The withdrawal followed Australian public outrage over comments made by the candidate, former general H.B.L. Mantiri, regarding East Timor.
A fortnight ago Jakarta announced that it had selected senior diplomat Wirjono Sastrohandojo as its new ambassador to Canberra.
Indonesian officials have played down the two-page security agreement, which was drafted in secret over a period of 18 months.
Both Moerdiono and Alatas have stressed that the security agreement does not imply that Indonesia is entering into a military pact with Australia.
Moerdiono said the agreement merely formalizes the cooperation which is already taking place between the two countries, such as joint military exercises and visits.
He said that both sides would continue to respect each other's sovereignty, political freedom and territorial integrity.
"In other words. both sides will adhere to the principles we both hold, which are mutual respect, non-interference in domestic matters and increased cooperation," Moerdiono said.
Former Indonesian ambassador to Australia, Sabam Siagian, told The Jakarta Post that the agreement brings together all joint programs, including staff officer training, between the Indonesian and Australian Armed Forces. The agreement also brings together the annual meetings between various military commissions and periodic discussions on strategic perceptions of the region.
"So the agreement is quite natural and important," Sabam said. "For Indonesia, it's useful because ABRI (the Armed Forces) can learn military thinking and technology from Australia, which also reflects the military thinking and technology of Europe and North America." (mds/anr)
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