DEFENCE COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH INDONESIA

DEFENCE COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH INDONESIA:

(Benefits): 3.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for Defence how the Defence Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia can improve the capability of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and boost ties between the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and SAF.

The Minister for Defence (Mr Teo Chee Hean): Sir, the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) is a strategic framework for mutually beneficial defence cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia. The agreement provides for a balance of benefits to the SAF and TNI, and will promote closer relations, greater cooperation and interoperability between the two armed forces.

Under the DCA, we will restart joint projects which the SAF and TNI find professional value in, including the Air Weapons Range and Air Combat Manoeuvring Range in Pekanbaru, and the use of a naval gunfire support scoring system in Pulau Kayu Ara in the South China Sea. There will also be a new area of cooperation between the two armies with the development of facilities and infrastructure at the Baturaja Land Forces

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Training Area in south Sumatra. The SAF will benefit from having access to these facilities and being able to train alongside their Indonesian counterparts. Such training opportunities will allow the SAF and TNI to develop professionally and enhance their interoperability, which has enabled both armed forces to work closely together in times of need. We have seen them do so in instances such as in the search and recovery operations following the crash of SilkAir Flight MI 185 near Palembang in December 1997 and in the tsunami relief mission to Aceh in December 2004.

In addition, we will continue to provide training assistance to the TNI through simulator training for their pilots, including the F-5, G-FET and Super Puma simulator training, and restarting professional courses like the Combined Fighter Weapons Instructor Course. To date, over 250 TNI-AU pilots have undergone simulator training in Singapore, and 10 TNI-AU instructors have graduated from the Combined Fighter Weapons Instructor Course. We will also continue to offer the TNI academic courses, such as scholarships to pursue postgraduate studies in Singapore at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, as well as English language courses at the Regional Language Centre (RELC). To date, 12 TNI officers have graduated from postgraduate studies in Singapore, while 120 have gone through the English language course at RELC. We will also provide the TNI with naval technical assistance and access to training facilities in Singapore.

The SAF will benefit from having access to training areas in Indonesia for the conduct of military training and exercises. While the SAF has access to training areas and facilities in many countries, the DCA will allow the SAF to

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conduct useful training closer to Singapore.

But, Sir, most importantly, the DCA will allow us to strengthen the strategic relationship between the SAF and TNI, which goes back more than 30 years. The TNI is an important institution in Indonesia. The DCA will promote closer interaction and interoperability between the two armed forces, enabling them to work effectively together in times of need.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: May I ask the Minister for an update of the status of the three service level agreements that have not been signed and whether this would impede the ability for us to move forward on closer cooperation with TNI under the DCA?

My second question is this. Some critics in Indonesia have made out the DCA to be an agreement which could compromise its sovereignty and they took issue in particular with the clause which allows Singapore to include a third party in its military training in Indonesia. Can I ask the Minister whether we have similar training agreements with other countries? Because I know that MINDEF has very close relations with countries all over the world.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Sir, the DCA is the overall governing document specifying the whole range of cooperative activities envisaged between the SAF and the TNI. And then there are implementing arrangements. The three agreements that have yet to be signed are three implementing arrangements regarding specific areas of cooperation. These were all agreed to as part of the package of agreements settled between the two countries on 23rd April 2007. Indonesia has asked for some variations to the various agreements and we have conveyed to them our views on this matter. We are still in discussion, so I will

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rather not get into any details on this matter.

Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang): With the close cooperation between SAF and the TNI on sharing of facilities and knowledge as well, in the event that relationship between the two countries should be bad, which I hope do not happen, will that compromise the security of Singapore, because they would have knowledge of what we have and how we operate? I would think that in times of warfare, that would be something dangerous.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, on the Defence Cooperation Agreement. The defence relations between Indonesia and Singapore are excellent. And I would say that over the last three decades, the defence relationship between the TNI and SAF has, in fact, been a cornerstone of the overall relationship between Indonesia and Singapore. And, historically, it has been good. It started with the Navy having exercises with each other in 1974 - I have to think a little bit because I took part in this first exercise that was conducted between the TNI and the SAF and I had good memories of it - and we have strengthened our relationship since then.

So I do not want to speculate on issues like the one that Ms Ellen Lee has raised. But it is in order to strengthen this relationship between our two countries and the relationship between our two armed forces that both our countries have entered willingly and freely into this set of agreements that we have before us today.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: The Minister has not answered my question on whether the military agreement that we have with Indonesia is similar in spirit and in terms of some the clauses with other countries that we have around the world.

The second question is this. The Minister has given us some updates on

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the status of the service level in the implementing agreements. Can I ask the Minister: is it not quite uncharacteristic of our MINDEF to sign a DCA, and leaving some loose details still not tied up at the point of signing? Can I ask the Minister why did we go ahead to do that and now being faced with the problem of having to discuss further some possible review of agreements that we have reached before?

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have said, the details of the DCA and the agreements are still not made public, so I do not want to go into the details and comparing one agreement with another agreement. In any case, agreements made between countries and armed forces do differ depending on the circumstances. So I do not want to go into the details and make comparisons.

For the package of agreements which we settled on 23rd April, this included the three arrangements which are yet to be signed. We had discussed whether to sign all the agreements together on 27th April and the Indonesians requested for the three arrangements to be signed on a separate day, ie, 7th May. In the event that had to be postponed because there were some matters which, as I have explained earlier, the Indonesians have requested for some variations, and we have conveyed our views to the Indonesians and we are still in discussion on this matter.