Indonesia-Laos joint working group needed for enhanced defense collaboration
Advanced technology – Visitors explore defense vehicles displayed during the 2016 International Indo Defence Expo & Forum at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Nov.2. (Antara/M.Agung Rajasa)
Vientiane, Laos | Tue, November 15, 2016 | 09:52 pm
View attachment 352286Advanced technology – Visitors explore defense vehicles displayed during the 2016 International Indo Defence Expo & Forum at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Nov.2. (Antara/M.Agung Rajasa)
Indonesia and Laos should set up a joint working group through which they can assess priority areas before they further enhance defense cooperation, a high-ranking defense official has said.
Laos Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Chansamone Chanyalath said Tuesday that his country needed such a working group to locate the areas of its defense weaponry system that most needed improvement before it sealed any agreement with Indonesia.
“[...] I do believe that Indonesia has experience in producing defense equipment," Chanyalath told his Indonesian counterpart, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, during a meeting at his office in Vientiane, on Tuesday.
Chanyalath was responding to Ryamizard's proposal for a more enhanced defense cooperation between the two countries. In his remarks earlier, Ryamizard said it was expected that Laos could also procure defense equipment from Indonesia, expanding their existing collaboration, which is in the field of defense education and training only.
Chanyalath told Ryamizard that stronger defense cooperation between Indonesia and Laos would help build the latter's defense industry so that Laos, which still imports the majority of its weapons from other countries, could start to produce its own military weapons.
Chanyalath later proposed a high-level official meeting to discuss further details both countries should work on so their defense collaboration would be mutually beneficial. (ebf)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...nhanced-defense-collaboration-1479221548.html
RI, Laos explore stronger defense cooperation
Vientiane, Laos | Tue, November 15, 2016 | 09:01 pm
Modern technology – Foreign technicians disembark from the Navy's KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai-332 at the shipyard of state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia in Surabaya, East Java, on Nov.8. PT PAL is building the frigate in conjunction with Netherlands-based Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS). It is expected that construction of the ship will finish in October 2017. (Antara/Irfan Anshori)
Indonesia is sounding out the possibility of tapping into the potential of Laos, which currently relies on other countries to develop its weapons systems, in a bid to continue to improve the country’s defense industry.
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu presented an offer to his Laotian counterpart, National Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath, during a meeting at the Laos Defense Ministry in Vientiane on Tuesday. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat.
“The Indonesian Defense Ministry is ready to connect you with Indonesian defense companies if Laos is interested,” said Ryamizard.
To complete Indonesia-Laos defense cooperation, he said, Indonesia was also ready to expand collaboration in the field of defense education and training between the two countries.
“We need to intensify and improve our collaboration on education,” Ryamizard said. “Indonesia is basically open to welcoming military students from Laos to study at our staff and command schools.”
Indonesia does not currently engage in any defense cooperation with Laos except in the field of education and training. Ryamizard’s proposal on the supplying of defense equipment for Laos, if it is realized, will mark the first collaboration between the two countries in this respect. (ebf)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/15/ri-laos-explore-stronger-defense-cooperation.html
Indonesia suggests Myanmar implement its own ‘Bela Negara’
Vientiane, Laos | Tue, November 15, 2016 | 11:23 pm
Deep talks
-- Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu (left) discusses the effectiveness of Indonesia's Bela Negara (State Defense) program with his Myanmar counterpart, Defense Minister Sein Win (right), during a meeting in Vientiane on Nov. 15. (JP/Margareth S.Aritonang)
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has suggested that Myanmar could implement its own version of his ministry’s widely criticized Bela Negara (State Defense) program as a way to tackle security challenges, including terrorism.
Speaking to his Myanmar counterpart, Defense Minister Sein Win, in a meeting in Vientiane on Tuesday, Ryamizard said the people’s force was more effective than any weapon in the fight against terrorism. This was one of the reasons Indonesia had developed the State Defense program, he went on.
“Weapons contribute only 1 percent in winning a fight against terrorism while people’s force accounts [for] 99 percent,” he said.
Ryamizard said Indonesia’s huge population of around 250 million was a great power to fight against terrorism, an ideology-based threat that was currently affecting the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
“The Bela Negara program provides room for all 250 Indonesian people to face terrorist groups such as the IS [Islamic State] extreme group. All of the citizens must defend the country,” he stressed.
The Bela Negara program has raised criticism from various parties worried that it is an attempt to re-militarize the country. Some of them argued that training civilians with military skills, even if they were basic, might lead to clashes among people.
Responding such concerns, the Defense Ministry has repeatedly said that military training would only be provided to locals living in conflict-prone areas. (ebf)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...ts-myanmar-implement-its-own-bela-negara.html
