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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