Indonesia’s foreign ministry speaks for first time on Russia’s request to use military base in Papua
Indonesia’s foreign ministry speaks for the first time on Russia’s request to use a base in Papua, saying it will always ‘receive and permit’ foreign militaries on ‘peaceful missions’.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry has broken its silence on Russia’s request to use a base in Papua, saying they will always “receive and permit” foreign militaries on “peaceful missions”.
Labor frontbenchers earlier this week, after a report was published about the request, said they sought urgent communications with Indonesian counterparts and reported back there was “no prospect” Indonesia would host Russian air assets.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Rolliansyah Soemirat has issued a statement addressing the saga for the first time since the report was published.
“1. Indonesia has never granted permission to any country to build or possess a military base in Indonesia,” the statement read.
“2. As a country with a longstanding tradition of a free and active foreign policy, Indonesia will receive and permit military aircraft or vessels from other nations on peaceful missions to visit Indonesia.
“3. Indonesia has plans to build a satellite launch site in Biak. Discussions on this matter began several years ago but have not yet resulted in any decision.”
The foreign ministry statement came as Anthony Albanese doubled down on casting doubt on the report that Russia had made a request to Indonesia to station military aircraft at a base just 1300km from Darwin.
Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia yesterday said military cooperation was an integral part of the Russia-Indonesia relationship.
The Prime Minister was asked on Thursday to “reconcile” this with his response casting doubt on the report of a Russian request.
Mr Albanese did not directly address that question but turned it back on Peter Dutton’s response falsely referring to a statement by the Indonesian president – for which the Opposition Leader has admitted a “mistake”.
“How do you reconcile the fact that the issue here is that Peter Dutton said that the Indonesian president had issued a statement saying that there would be a Russian air force base in West Papua,” Mr Albanese said.
“It was simply wrong.
“It’s just extraordinary that Peter Dutton has doubled down, including last night, and incredible that James Paterson, who has gone out there and essentially said, ‘why didn’t Labor know about something that is not happening?’
“That is the question that has been asked. It’s not happening. There’s not a base.
“There was no statement from the Indonesian President. No statement from the Indonesian Defence Minister, no statement from the Indonesian Foreign Minister.”
Russian envoy pours fuel over Indonesia base request
Russia has launched an incendiary broadside against Australia’s military posture in the Asia-Pacific, linking its military co-operation with Indonesia to the AUKUS defence pact and “particularly alarming” plans to deploy US intermediate-range missiles on Australian soil that would put Indonesia within range.
Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Jakarta, Sergei Tolchenov, made the extraordinary statements amid an ongoing political firestorm in Australia over reports of a Russian request for military access to an Indonesian air force base in Papua.
Jakarta’s foreign policy establishment has warned it would be “unthinkable” for the country to host any foreign military base on its soil, and Indonesian Defence Ministry spokesman Frega Wenas Inkiriwang said there was nothing on Russians leasing air bases in the minutes from February meetings between Indonesian and Russian security officials.
The Albanese government has refused to respond to Moscow’s antagonism, while also maintaining its silence amid questions over whether it had been assured by Indonesia that there had been no such request or whether the request had been denied.
Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told his Australian counterpart Richard Marles on Tuesday a report carried in the respected Janes defence journal saying Indonesia was considering Moscow’s request was “simply not true”.
Mr Tolchenov’s statement appeared designed to add fuel to the fire by expressly avoiding any confirmation that Moscow had asked to station long-range military aircraft at Manuhua air force base, just 1300km from the Australian mainland.
“Concerning the inquiries coming from Canberra to the Indonesian officials about the alleged plans to establish in Indonesia a base for long-range aircraft of the Russian Air-Space Forces, we would like to draw the attention to the following,” his statement said. “Military co-operation is an integral part of the intergovernmental relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia. It is solely of bilateral character and based on a relevant legal framework and the national legislation of each respective country.”
All interactions between Russian and Indonesian armed forces were aimed at strengthening their mutual defensive capabilities, were not aimed at any third countries and posed no security threat to the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
But the same could not be said of Australia, the ambassador intimated, taking aim at Canberra’s ambitions to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership and the large US military contingents it hosts.
“When it comes to any challenges to regional stability, they are more likely to arise from the rotational deployment of large military contingents from extra-regional states on Australian territory, including the provision of airfields for the landing of strategic bombers and port infrastructure for visits by nuclear-powered submarines,” Mr Tolchenov said.
“Particularly alarming are the currently discussed plans to deploy the US’s intermediate-range missiles in Australia, which would put ASEAN countries – including Indonesia – within its range, as well as the acquisition by the Royal Australian Navy of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS trilateral partnership.
“The latter raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of established nuclear weapon-free zones in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Treaty of Rarotonga) and the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (the Bangkok Treaty).”
It came as Anthony Albanese on Wednesday accused Peter Dutton of “dialling up” national security threats and “verballing” Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after the Opposition Leader incorrectly suggested Mr Prabowo had spoken publicly on the issue.
“What we saw from Peter Dutton was an extraordinary overreach. He verballed the President of Indonesia,” the Prime Minister said while campaigning in Melbourne. But Mr Albanese, Mr Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong all declined to say on Wednesday whether the Indonesian government had denied a request had been made or whether it had said one had been explicitly declined.
The Prime Minister went as far as to suggest the initial report of the Russian request in Janes, could be incorrect.
“You’re assuming the Janes report is correct and there is no basis for you assuming that,” he told one reporter.
Mr Dutton defended his comments, insisting the prospect of a greater Russian presence in the region was “very real” and Labor had many questions still to answer on the matter.
“We have asked for a briefing in relation to the matter that has not been forthcoming yet,” he said. “We don’t know from the government exactly what happened because the government does not know; the government has reacted – as the Prime Minister did, as I did yesterday, to very credible media reports,” Mr Dutton added.
Later, during the leaders debate, Mr Dutton admitted he had made a mistake in his comments about Mr Prabowo.
The Opposition Leader said he was going off media reports that quoted unnamed sources from the Indonesian government.
He added that the most important point was that Mr Albanese knew nothing about Russia’s request to set up a base in Indonesia. “(He) found out about it through a news report, similar to when the Chinese naval ship circumnavigates our country and he doesn’t know all the details until a Virgin pilot provides the detail,” he said.
As political anxieties escalated in Australia, Indonesia’s foreign policy establishment sought to hose down the issue.
Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno said the country’s longstanding free and active foreign policy “means we have our own strategic independence in deciding which policy we’re going to pursue”.
“And of course one of those policies is not having any part in any military alliance.”
Former foreign minister Marty Natelegawa told a conference in Jakarta to mark the 50th anniversary of the global Non-Aligned Movement (of which Indonesia is a founding member) that it would be “unthinkable and simply not in our DNA” for the Southeast Asian nation to host any foreign military base.
The Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) also warned it would violate the country’s constitution. “Our constitution and various laws explicitly prohibit the presence of foreign military bases. This isn’t just a legal issue – it concerns our national sovereignty and the direction of our foreign policy,” senior PDIP member TB Hasanuddin said.
Former home affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said the apparent request by Russia to use Indonesia’s Manuhua air force base on Papua’s Biak Island was “deeply concerning”.
He noted Russia’s former defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited Jakarta in February, after the first naval exercises between the countries in November.
“I think a request was made, probably in February at the time of Shoigu’s visit to Jakarta,” he told Sky News.
“I don’t for a moment think that (the story) was sort of placed by the Russians to interfere. I think it’s actually a couple of analysts stumbling on to something that’s real.
Mr Pezzullo said Australia should be concerned but not surprised by the development.
“I think they would love to be able to have, if not a permanent base, certainly a rotational base, with maybe some bare facilities, some austere infrastructure that they could quickly get activated,” he said.
“I doubt very much the Indonesians would give that to them because they know they’d face … a furious response from Australia, because any such basing in Indonesia would be an unfriendly act to Australia.”
He said such a base would “really only be there to attack bases in northern Australia, potentially the American base that’s been built at Manus in Papua New Guinea, and a back door attack into the large American base of Guam”.
Indonesia has been steadily building ties with Moscow under Mr Prabowo, who wasted little time in signing up Indonesia to the China and Russia-led BRICS developing nations grouping after his October inauguration.
Mr Prabowo also met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last July, just months after his stunning presidential election victory, and is scheduled to return there this June.
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