By Matthew Knott
Indonesia’s defence minister has assured Australia that Russia will not be allowed to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia after reports emerged that Moscow was seeking to establish a military foothold 1400 kilometres from the Australian mainland.
Reports that Moscow had asked Jakarta for access to an Indonesian military base in the province of Papua thrust national security to the centre of the federal election campaign on Tuesday, echoing the Solomon Islands’ decision to strike a wide-ranging security pact with China during the 2022 campaign.
But after seeking urgent clarification from Jakarta, Defence Minister Richard Marles said: “I have spoken to my counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, the minister for defence, and he has said to me in the clearest possible terms [that] reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true.”
The military website Janes reported earlier in the day that Moscow has lodged an official request for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based at a facility in Indonesia’s easternmost province. Moscow and Jakarta have rapidly deepened their military ties since Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took power last October, raising alarm bells in Canberra.
Quoting Indonesian government sources and documents, Janes said that Russia had asked to base several long-range aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base at Biak Island in the province of Papua.
The base, which is home to the Indonesian Air Force’s Aviation Squadron 27, is approximately 1380 kilometres from Darwin.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton described the news as a “very troubling” and “deeply destabilising” development for the region.
Labelling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “murderous dictator” who had illegally invaded Ukraine, Dutton said that “we don’t welcome his presence in our neighbourhood at all”.
Dutton said it would represent a “catastrophic failure” of diplomacy if Albanese and Wong were not aware of Moscow’s request before reports emerged in the media.
He claimed that Prabowo had “publicly announced” Moscow’s request, even though the Indonesian government had not provided any comment on the issue.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said the government was “seeking further clarification” from Jakarta, adding he believed the Indonesia-Australia relationship had “never been better than it is right now”.
“We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region,” Albanese said.
Indonesian officials were mystified by the reports on Tuesday. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Rolliansyah Soemirat said he was not aware of such a request from Russia.
Indonesian legislator Tubagus Hasanuddin, a member of the parliamentary committee overseeing foreign affairs and defence, said he also had no knowledge of the issue.
One of Putin’s most senior officials, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, travelled to Jakarta in February to meet with Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
The visit came after Indonesia conducted its first-ever joint naval drills with Russia in November as part of Prabowo’s push to deepen defence ties with Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security CouncilCredit: AP
Australia and Indonesia signed a defence co-operation pact in the same month, enabling the nations to conduct complex joint military exercises and making it easier to operate in each other’s countries.
Matthew Sussex, an expert in Russian strategic policy at the Australian National University, said the prospect of Russian long-range aircraft being based in Indonesia would cause anxiety within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“Russia is trying to increase its Indo-Pacific military footprint,” Sussex said, adding that Moscow was seeking to drive a wedge between nations such as Indonesia and the West following the election of US President Donald Trump.
This would ultimately serve Beijing’s strategic interests in the region given its close ties to Moscow, he said.
Trump frustrated Jakarta by announcing he would impose a hefty 32 per cent tariff on Indonesian exports to the US earlier this month, before suspending a decision for 90 days when US financial markets went into meltdown.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has embarked on a tour of South-East Asia, beginning in Vietnam, in a bid to position Beijing as the partner of choice for the strategically significant region.
Greg Fealy, an expert on Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said it would be “very unusual” for Indonesia to agree to such a request given its historical commitment to non-alignment, in which it has sought to maintain close relations with competing major powers.
However, he added that Prabowo had taken a notably friendlier approach to Russia than his predecessor, Joko Widodo, and that the US was perceived as an increasingly unreliable security partner in the region.
Prabowo travelled to Moscow last July to meet with Putin, and Indonesia officially joined the Russia-led BRICS grouping in January.
Susannah Patton, director of the South-East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, said: “Russia has been actively pursuing closer defence ties with Indonesia for some time.
“Yet it would be surprising if Indonesia were to agree to any kind of basing arrangement, given its non-aligned foreign policy stance and sovereignty concerns.”
With Karuni Rompies
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