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Indonesia does not hide its good relations with opposing nations. Monday April 13, while Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was visiting Russia, where he met with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin signed, in the United States, with the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth, a defense partnership described as “major” by both parties.
According to the joint statement from the two countries, the partnership should enable “military modernization and capacity building”, “professional military training and education”, as well as “exercises and operational cooperation”.
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Washington wants to preserve its access to the Strait of Malacca
The Defense Partnership (MDCP) represents, according to the Indonesian government, a “opportunity to strengthen national defense capabilities”. But for Washington, it is more than an opportunity to export military equipment abroad. “The United States has, as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, a general interest in strengthening its cooperation with regional actors in Southeast Asia.”recalls Juliette Loesch, associate researcher at the Ifri Asia Center. “This allows them to deploy their buildings, whether in the naval or air domain, or even army troops in certain cases, during multilateral exercises in the regionexplains the specialist. This also allows them to mark their presence in this area which is contested in a general way and where, above all, their rivalry with China is expressed. HAS”
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Fears for Indonesian sovereignty
But the strengthening of the United States/Indonesia defense partnership also raises many questions in Indonesia and the region. On the eve of the signing of this “major” partnership with Washington, Indian and Indonesian media revealed the sending, by the American War Department, of a document entitled “Implementation of the American overflight” to the ministry Indonesian Defense Minister, February 26 The text mentioned a proposed agreement, by Indonesia, to allow American military aircraft to cross its airspace as part of emergency operations, crisis response missions and military exercises.
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“It’s a bit big for the Indonesians to swallow, it doesn’t go with their concept of sovereignty.analyse de son côté Juliette Loesch. They warn that this sends a signal of alignment with the United States or submission to American demands which is not consistent with Indonesia’s non-alignment policy. HAS”
A rapprochement denounced in Indonesia
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“There is resistance from intellectual elites, experts, members of universities, members of think-tanks… Who will defend Indonesia’s non-alignment policy and call for more vigilance in relation to this rapprochement towards the United States, to what it could mean in relation to its other partnersdetails the researcher associated with Ifri. There is a desire, not so much to defend the sovereignty of Indonesia, but to defend its margins of maneuver internationally.
In public opinion, on the other hand, resistance would be linked “A fairly widespread anti-Americanism in Indonesian society, mainly for reasons of alleged Islamophobia from the United States.”. Un sentiment décuplé “since the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the effective support of the United States towards Israel. Even more so with the war in Iran. »
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>> An article to be found in full on the RFI website.
