TNI denies deal over warships withdrawal
Rendi Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Military (TNI) denied on Monday reports saying it had reduced its naval presence in a maritime area of Ambalat that has been at the center of dispute with Malaysia.
TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said he had no knowledge of a deal with Malaysia to limit the presence of warships in the area to one each.
"Until now there has been no warships or other warfare equipment withdrawn (from Ambalat)," Endriartono said after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in receiving Chinese President Hu Jintao and his delegation at the State Palace.
Endriartono was commenting on a statement by Malaysian deputy prime minister and defense minister Najib Razak, who said over the weekend that an agreement had been reached at a recent meeting between the Malaysian and Indonesian naval chiefs to scale back their fleets in the disputed area off eastern Kalimantan.
Navy chiefs of both countries met in Batam earlier this month to ease tension that followed an incident in which warships from the two neighbors collided near the Karang Unarang reef, where Indonesia has built a lighthouse in an effort to strengthen its territorial claim to the disputed region.
"I have received no confirmation from Malaysia regarding such an agreement to reduce military force in order to ease tension," Endriartono said.
The two neighbors had previously been involved in a border dispute over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan that are close to the Ambalat waters. In December 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled that the islands belonged to Malaysia.
Endriartono also said TNI was considering the possibility of purchasing submarines from China to renew its naval fleet.
Indonesia and China agreed on Monday to defense and security cooperation that for the time being will be limited to trade in light arms.
Indonesian defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said China had proposed joint production of arms and other military equipment with Indonesian aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia, arms producer PT Pindad, ship builder PT PAL and explosives firm PT Dahana.
"We could not accept the offer as they were demanding that the companies provide all their research data for free as part of the agreement. They could understand our objection," Juwono said.
The agreement with China comes as Indonesia seeks a full restoration of military ties with the United States, which imposed an arms embargo in 1992 following an incident in the former Indonesia province of East Timor in 1991.
Juwono said that besides China, France and Germany were also offering their submarines, jet fighters and carrier planes.