Singapore will never attack Indonesia: Juwono

The Straits Times, June 1, 2007


JAKARTA - INDONESIAN Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono has told the House of Representatives not to fear Singapore, after legislators objected strongly to two recently signed extradition and defence treaties.

'We all have to be realistic in facing Singapore,' Dr Juwono said during a hearing with Commission I on defence and foreign affairs, an Indonesian parliamentary committee.

'Of course, Singapore is strong in the (fields of) economics, politics and defence - particularly with its high-precision military technology.

'And although Singapore could buy our territory, dominate our economy and (use their) modern military technology (against us), the city state will never be able to buy our mindset or our nationalism,' he added.

Despite its modern military, Singapore would never launch an offensive against Indonesia because 'once the small state was bombed, it would collapse', he said.

'Therefore, we should (continue) negotiations and take advantage...of (many) bilateral agreements.

'Singapore has money, we have space - so we have to negotiate money with space,' he said.

The hearing on Monday opened with a barrage of criticism and questions about the treaties.

Almost all the legislators in the commission vowed not to ratify the defence cooperation agreement, which they said gave little benefit to Indonesia.

Jakarta and Singapore signed the two agreements in Bali on April 27.

The treaties must be ratified by both parliaments before they can be implemented.

Dr Juwono said the two agreements had been combined as one package because both countries were expected to make full use of the treaties' international benefits.

'Trust me, Indonesia will not implement the DCA (Defence Cooperation Agreement) if Singapore is not committed to extraditing Indonesian fugitives or (if they) complicate the procedure,' he said.

Separately, Indonesian military chief Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said the military 'has to be clever in translating the DCA' to make proper use of it.

JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK