Flexible and sly: Indonesian Defence policy, Russia and Australian anxiety

Island states tend to be anxious political entities. Encircled by water, seemingly defended by natural obstacles, the fear of corrupting penetration is never far. Threats of such unwanted intrusion are embellished and magnified. In the case of Australia, these have varied from straying Indonesian fishermen who are seen as terrors of border security, to the threatened establishment of military bases in the Indo-Pacific by China. With Australia facing a federal election, the opportunity to exaggerate the next threat is never far away.

On April 14, the specialist military publication Janes reported that Indonesia had "received an official request from Moscow, seeking permission for Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft to be based at a facility in [the country's] easternmost province." The area in question is Papua, and the relevant airbase, Biak Numfor, home to the Indonesian Air Force's Aviation Squadron 27 responsible for operating surveillance aircraft of the CN235 variety.

Indonesian government sources had informed the magazine of a request received by the office of the defence minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, following a February meeting with the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu. This was not the first time, with Moscow making previous requests to Jakarta for using a base for its long-range aircraft.

The frazzled response in Australia to the possibility of a Russian presence on Indonesian soil betrays its presumption. Just as Australia would rather not see Pacific Island states form security friendly ties with China, an anxiety directed and dictated by Washington, it would also wish those in Southeast Asia to avoid the feelers of other countries supposedly unfriendly to Canberra's interests.

Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who has an addict's fascination with security menaces of the phantom variety, sprung at the claims made in Janes.

This would be a catastrophic failure of diplomatic relations if [Australian Foreign Minister] Penny Wong and [Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese didn't have forewarning about this before it was made public,

he trumpeted.

This is a very, very troubling development and suggestion that somehow Russia would have some of their assets based in Indonesia only a short distance from, obviously, the north of our country.

The Albanese government has tried to cool the confected heat with assurances, with the PM reaffirming Canberra's support for Ukraine while stating that "we obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region". It has also accused Dutton of a streaky fabrication: that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had "publicly announced" the details.

Australia's Defence Minister, Richard Marles, also informed the press that he had spoken to his counterpart Sjamsoeddin, who duly replied

...in the clearest possible terms [that] reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true.

Besides, a country such as Indonesia, according to Marles, is of the friendly sort.