On January 4, Indonesian military chief Gatot Nurmantyo ordered the end of military cooperation between Indonesia and Australia due to the fact that the Indonesian Special Forces commander training discovered materials in an Australian school that was infuriating the Indonesian military as well as the state’s philosophy of Pancasila.
Pancasila, which comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “five,” Bianca and Bianca, and Javanese meaning “principles” Sila is the name used to describe the official foundation principles that govern Indonesia. Indonesian state. The principals include: “The one God system (monotheism), just and civilised humanity, the unity of Indonesia, democracy and social justice for all.”
The incident is one of the fluctuations and turbulence of the Indonesia-Australian diplomatic and military relationship that began in 1945 when Indonesia first declared its independence from both Japan, which had taken over the country in 1942, as well as the Dutch, who had colonized the country during the 18th century.
The cooperation in defense between Australia and Indonesia has seen a dramatic improvement since then. Both countries require one another. To Australia, Indonesia is an important country for its economic and security goals because it is the gateway to Asia.
President Joko Widodo, as well as the other members of the cabinet, could have just reiterated the words of General Nuryantyo. Darren Whiteside/Reuters
Indonesia, on the other side, is in need of Australia as an important strategic partner to modernize and improve the quality of the military of Indonesia. Each year, Indonesia sends more than a hundred officers to Australia to receive training and education.
However, the distrust that was engendered by Australia’s involvement during the conflict in East Timor lingers and remains at the heart of the present problems in their relationship. It remains in the background despite progress in both military and economic diplomatic relations.
Hidden agendas?
General Gatot Nurmantyo is the perfect illustration of this lack of confidence. As of March 15, 2015, for example, he claimed that Australia’s interference in the East Timor secession of Indonesia could be a part of an indirect war in order to ensure the security of oil.
In December 2016, the president warned of Australia’s intention to occupy the Masela Oil Block, which is located near Timor-Leste (as East Timor has been known since its independence), in addition to Darwin. He also mentioned that Indonesia is now bordered by Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Singapore, all of which were previously in conflict with Indonesia.
The same phobia also afflicts many Indonesians, although it’s not as severe as the one experienced by General Nurmantyo. In spite of promises by both US President Obama and the then prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard that the purpose of deploying the 2,500 US soldiers in Darwin in the year 2017 was to combat China – not to put a threat on Indonesia and in the Southeast Asian region generally – the majority of Indonesians remain convinced that there is an ulterior motive behind both US as well as Australian the interest in Indonesia’s abundance of natural resources, as well as Papua.
