TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
TNI temporarily halts cooperation with ADF over insult
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Closer ties — Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu (left) shakes hands with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop during the 2+2 Dialogue in Bali on Oct. 28. (Courtesy of Julie Bishop/Twitter)
T
he Indonesian Military (TNI) has temporarily halted its cooperation with the Australian Defense Force (ADF), after an Australian soldier allegedly defamed the Indonesian ideology of Pancasila.
“Yes we stopped it temporarily, but we have not cut the cooperation,” TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com, claiming that the temporary halt was due to a technical matter.
Asked whether the halt was caused by the alleged insult toward Pancasila, Wuryanto did not deny it.
“Yes, it’s one of the causes. Mutual respect is necessary,” he added.
(Read also:Indonesia, Australia to strengthen military ties)
The insult allegedly occurred when an officer from the Indonesian Army’s special forces trained with Australian military officers at an event in Perth in November last year.
“It was just a [Australian] lieutenant, who has been reprimanded,” Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java.
Ryamizard is convinced that the Australian military and government never intended to insult Indonesia.
He said he would visit Australia in the near future to discuss the continuing cooperation between the two defense forces.(jun)
