RI considers buying Russian jet fighters

RI considers buying Russian jet fighters

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government is seriously
considering buying military equipment, including jet fighters,
from Russia in a bid to diversify the sources of its air defense
procurement, a senior cabinet minister said yesterday.

State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar
Kartasasmita said he was ordered by President Soeharto to work
out the plan after the latter met with Russian President Boris
Yeltsin's special envoy Boris Kuzik in February.

In his letter to Soeharto, Yeltsin offered Indonesia Russian-
made weapons including jet fighters.

"We want to buy weapons from Russia as part of our efforts to
diversify our purchase sources to maintain independence,"
Ginandjar said after meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

To date Indonesia has imported weapons from several countries,
including Britain and France, he said.

Last month Ginandjar sent his assistant, Maj. Gen. Rianto, and
a 14-strong team to Moscow to study the offer. The team consisted
of senior officials from various government agencies.

It concluded that Russian military technology was suitable for
Indonesia.

The Russian-made air defense equipment Jakarta is considering
buying includes radars, guided missiles and jet fighters, he
said.

Ginandjar announced the plan two weeks after Soeharto decided
to cancel the purchase of nine United States F-16 jet fighters.
The F-16s were originally bound for Pakistan but Washington
canceled it due to suspicions that Islamabad was developing
nuclear weapons.

Indonesia also canceled participation in the US$600,000
American-run International Military Education and Training
Program (IMET) in response to growing criticism of Indonesia in
the American Congress.

In his letter to President Bill Clinton, Soeharto said it was
the "wholly unjustified criticism in the U.S. Congress against
Indonesia which is linked to its participation in the IMET
program and the planned purchase of the F-16 planes' as one of
the factors that led to this decision."

Ginandjar said the new plan was "not directly related" to the
cancellations.

To further study the desired weaponry, Armed Forces Chief Gen.
Feisal Tanjung will visit Moscow later this month before B.J.
Habibie, the state minister of research and technology, goes
there to make a further assessment.

"The final decision will be made by the President," Ginandjar
said.

Ginandjar said the Armed Forces already had Russian military
equipment in its arsenal, such as tanks and submarines bought
from the former Soviet Union in the 1960s.

"Their technology is very sophisticated and competitive
compared with other countries'," he said.

Japan's aid

Ginandjar also spoke yesterday about his recent visit to Tokyo
to lobby the Japanese government to maintain the level of its
development assistance to Indonesia at least at the same amount
as its last year's commitment.

He said that Japan would continue to put Indonesia at the top
of its foreign aid priority list, despite Japan's decision to
slash its official development assistance (ODA) by as much as 10
percent next year.

"On the national, international and global levels Japan will
reduce its amount of foreign aid. But we have asked them not to
make an across-the-board aid cut for us," he said.

Ginandjar said Japanese officials had assured him during his
visit to Tokyo earlier this month that Indonesia would be given
priority to Japan's assistance.

"They have said the aid cut would not be imposed on all
countries, but would be based on priorities," he said.

Japan has said its aid cut would mark the first decline in
foreign aid in two decades.

The ODA budget will continue to decrease annually over a
three-year period. A maximum 10 percent cut was aimed for in the
fiscal year 1998/1999, which starts next April.

Ginandjar said he regretted Japan's decision to slash foreign
aid, which was done "at a time when developing countries most
needed support".

He said he was not disappointed at the possibility of an aid
slash for Indonesia, but rather at the overall cut.

"Concerning the amount of aid for Indonesia, it is up to
(Japan) to decide," he said.

The Japanese government has allocated 1.17 trillion yen
(US$10.2 billion) to its ODA budget for the current fiscal year
1997/1998, which started last April. This amount was up 2.1
percent from the year before.

Indonesia and China are the biggest recipients of Japanese
aid.

Ginandjar was in Tokyo to lobby Japan, which is currently the
largest donor member of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI)
creditor consortium.

CGI is scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Tokyo on July
14 to determine the amount of aid for Indonesia for fiscal year
1997/1998.

Last year it pledged over US$5.2 billion in grants and soft
loans to Indonesia, of which $1.9 billion or 36.5 percent was
committed by Japan.

WB report

Commenting on the World Bank's latest annual report on
Indonesia, Ginandjar said he considered the report "balanced".

"But the report is like that every year ... And it often gives
recommendations which are not always in line with our policy
priorities," he said.

"Some recommendations we can use, but some we can't. Others we
can use, but not right now," he said.

The World Bank suggested, among other things that the
government raise taxes on urban properties, domestic fuel prices
to eliminate subsidies, electricity tariffs and cut down tax
exemptions. (06/pwn)