Joint training for the last 20 years has helped both countries work well together in times of need

Jul 1, 2007
The Sunday Times

AS FRESH objections surface in Jakarta over the Defence Cooperation Agreement between Indonesia and Singapore, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has made clear that the deal is neither new nor a one-way street.

The two armed forces have been training together for 20 years, with the earliest agreements signed in 1988, he said in an interview to mark SAF Day.

'In fact, the agreements will allow what has been going on for the past 20 years to resume,' he added.

And both countries have benefited, said the minister, alluding to criticisms from some quarters in Jakarta that the deals were skewed in Singapore's favour.

He cited how the jointly developed air combat manoeuvring range in Sumatra trains fighter pilots from both air forces while Indonesian armed forces benefit from training here.

In the last 10 years, 250 Indonesian helicopter and fighter pilots have been trained on simulators in Singapore.

Joint training has also helped both sides work well in day-to-day operations and in times of need, he added.

For example, a screen in the Indonesian navy's Batam command centre projects images from coastal radar stations in Singapore, allowing both navies to work together to secure the Singapore Strait.

'This is one example of practical cooperation which comes about from all these close training activities that we have had over the years,' said the former navy chief.

That cooperation has also been critical in disaster relief operations.

Mr Teo recounted the December 1997 crash of SilkAir MI185 into the Musi river at Palembang: 'I was there and saw the assistance the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) gave us. With their guidance, we recovered the black boxes from the river. Very difficult operation.'

In May 1996, Singapore deployed remotely piloted vehicles to Irian Jaya to help Indonesian special forces rescue nine foreigners and six Indonesian hostages.

And the SAF deployed rapidly to Aceh for tsunami relief in December 2004 because 'we were able to phone up our counterparts at a high level and establish what the...critical areas were'.

Also at the ground level, many army, navy and air force officers knew each other from the various joint courses they had done.

'They...were able to work quite seamlessly together,' said Mr Teo.

To resume this level of training, the Defence Cooperation Agreement and four associated implementing arrangements were negotiated as part of a package deal with the extradition treaty.

The extradition treaty, the Defence Cooperation Agreement and Military Training Area implementing arrangements were signed on April 27 in Bali.

Indonesia had asked that the signing of the three remaining implementing arrangements be deferred to May 7, for 'administrative and logistical reasons'.

But just before the signing, it requested changes to the implementing arrangements that Singapore could not agree to.

Singapore's position is that the pacts are already settled and the terms cannot be changed without putting the whole package at risk.

But Mr Teo added: 'In the interests of good relations...with our Indonesian friends, we made a proposal on how we could move forward on these issues. We are still awaiting a reply.'

» Have your say on this and other issues in our forum pages