News and Analysis, 18 November 2006, Indonesia and Australia Sign Security Cooperation Agreement

On 13 November 2006, the Foreign Minister of Australia, Alexander Downer, and the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Hassan Wirayuda signed a comprehensive security cooperation agreement. In response to Indonesia’s concern about Australian interference in its internal affairs, a paragraph was imbedded that states, “Mutual respect and support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, and political independence of each other, and also non-interference in the internal affairs of one another.”  (Comment: This was clearly a redline for the Indonesian negotiating team and should go a long way to assuage Jakarta’s concerns surrounding perceived support from Australia for separatist sentiment in West Papua.) The agreement covers eight key areas: defense cooperation, law enforcement cooperation, counter-terrorism (CT) cooperation, intelligence cooperation, maritime security, aviation safety and security, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and emergency cooperation. (Comment – The agreement lays the ground work for a significant increase in bilateral security related activities between the two nations ranging from intelligence exchanges to joint and coordinated police operations directed against a wide variety of transnational crimes including CT.  In the area of defense force interaction, one can expect an increase in Australian funding of defense related activities and increase in the tempo and scope of bilateral training and exercises.) To see the complete text of the agreement go to:  [slr]