As a
large and democratic country, Indonesia
must play a strategic role
in maintaining regional order and the United States wants to build
a strong relationship with the archipelagic nation, says the new
Pentagon
chief.
“As a
large, diverse, and democratic country, Indonesia
has a key role in
helping lead this region,” US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at the
first plenary session of The Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on
Saturday.
Hagel
and Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro held bilateral
talks on Friday.
“The United States
and Indonesia
– the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation
– are building new habits of cooperation that reflect a shared vision
for a peaceful and prosperous region,’ Hagel said in his speech.
“The
United States and Indonesia are working together on humanitarian assistance
and disaster response preparedness, maritime security, international
peacekeeping and combating transnational threats”
Hagel
also mentioned that the US wanted to build
strong relationships with rising powers such as India, Indonesia and
China as part of its pivot or rebalancing to Asia.
The rebalancing,
which is basically -- according to Hagel – a diplomatic,
economic and cultural strategy, the US would station 60 percent
of its naval assets as well as air force assets in the Asia-Pacific
region by 2020.
It
would also station or rotate four littoral combat ships in Singapore. The USS Freedom has already docked in Singapore. It would
also rotate 2,500 US marines
in Darwin, Australia, every year.
Both Singapore and Australia
are Indonesia’s
maritime neighbors.
