Background

Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto visited France on 13 January to mark seventy years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During his visit, Prabowo met with French Defence Minister Florence Parly and discussed the prospects for strengthening defence ties. From that discussion, both parties agreed to negotiate a Defence Co-operation Agreement (DCA), which is expected to be signed later this year and will form the framework for future defence co-operation. Following his visit to Paris, Prabowo also briefly stopped in Germany to consider an offer to buy submarines. According to Dahnil Simanjuntak, spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, Prabowo is also currently considering another offer, from Turkey, after visiting the Gölcük Naval Base in November last year.

Comment

The level of defence co-operation between Indonesian and France is minimal; understandably so, given the vast geographical distance between them and the lack of obvious shared security interests. There is, however, a level of partnership that could facilitate co-operation in the future. Indonesia, along with Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, is one of France’s main defence partners in the region. It houses French defence and armament attachés and hosts aircraft deployments and port calls. France has also joined Indonesia’s Komodo military exercises and most of its naval deployments pass through Indonesian waters. The last significant development in bilateral defence relations was in 2017, when both governments pledged to strengthen their cooperation in fighting terrorism and in the defence and energy sector. From that commitment, however, there has been little or no outcome to garner public attention.

The aim of the DCA is to help the defence partnership progress towards a working relationship. Quoting Indonesia’s Ambassador to France, Arrmanatha Nasir, the Jakarta Post wrote: ‘The DCA will cover cooperation in training and education, defence industry development, science and defence technology, intelligence cooperation and counterterrorism, as well as collaborations in peacekeeping operations and humanitarian missions during disasters.’ Of those developments, most of the focus is likely to be on intelligence co-operation, especially regarding terrorism, as well as training and defence exports to Indonesia. Most of France’s active military presence is likely to continue to be focussed on its territories in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.

A closer partnership between Indonesia and France will be beneficial to both countries. From Jakarta’s perspective, the greatest benefit will come from co-operation in the defence industries. During his trip to Paris, Prabowo met with leading defence companies specialising in munitions, aircraft, shipbuilding, avionics and radar. Utilising expertise from France’s advanced defence industries will be invaluable to Indonesia’s efforts to modernise its forces and develop its own defence manufacturing capabilities.

The militarisation of the South China Sea and China’s incursions into what is known in Indonesia as the North Natuna Sea, have highlighted the need for Indonesia to bolster its naval forces. While the intentions of the Communist Party of China in the region are still being debated, its actions over the past few years have shown the need for Jakarta to secure its waters against foreign powers that may impede Indonesian interests in the future. France has previously expressed its interest in providing Indonesia, along with other South-East Asian powers, with the tools needed to contribute to stronger regional security.[1]

[1] France and Security in the Indo­-Pacific, Ministère des Armées, 2018 Edition, updated May 2019, p. 4.