President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has appeared to fully back his former rival, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, over his effort to modernize Indonesia’s weapons systems, saying that such a move was necessary to counter wide-ranging security challenges going forward.

The President, speaking in a meeting with officials from the Defense Ministry, the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), emphasized the importance of “defense diplomacy” amid a wider spectrum of potential conflicts.

“The first big challenge [for Indonesia] is the widening spectrum of conflicts around the world. That is why we have to strengthen our defense diplomacy to ease tensions between countries and stand ready to deploy our weapons to enforce the law in our territory,” Jokowi said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The former Jakarta governor called on the military and the police to be able to handle all types of conflict, from conventional warfare and asymmetric warfare — such as guerilla warfare and acts of terrorism — to hybrid warfare, adding that the TNI and the National Police should be the vanguard of efforts to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty.

In his remarks, Jokowi also indicated he supported Prabowo’s overseas trips, saying that it was important for Indonesia to strengthen its “defense diplomacy” with other countries.

“For those who question the defense minister’s [visits] to countries, [know] that [they are conducted] in the name of defense diplomacy,” the President said. “However, I know that he went to these countries to look at the weapons systems that we want to purchase.”

Since being appointed by Jokowi as defense minister in the Indonesia Onward Cabinet late last year, Prabowo has toured seven countries, including neighbors Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. He also went to China, Japan, Turkey and France.

Prabowo’s visit to France was reportedly made to purchase 48 Rafale jet fighters, four Scorpene-class submarines armed with Exocet SM29 missiles and two 2,500-ton Gowind corvettes, according to a report from French newspaper La Tribune.

While emphasizing the need to modernize Indonesia’s weapons systems, the Gerindra Party chief played down the report, saying “that's probably their [the French government's] wish”.

The government previously admitted that it had looked into the possibility of purchasing new weapons but said no decision had been made regarding procurement.

“Some [countries] have been looked into by Pak Defense Minister [Prabowo], such as France, South Korea and Eastern European countries, and a decision will be made soon. We will have a meeting with Pak Defense Minister next week in Surabaya [East Java],” Jokowi said Thursday.

He also expressed his desire for Indonesia to improve its mastery of cutting-edge technologies, adding that proper procurement policy was needed. “We have to strengthen our technological prowess for our defense,” he said. “This needs a weapons system procurement policy so that the purchase [of weapons] could be useful 20, 30, 50 years ahead.”

He therefore called on the Defense Ministry, which received the largest amount of money in this year’s state budget with Rp 131.2 trillion (US$9.62 billion), to spend the public’s money in an efficient and clean manner, while also urging the ministry to support the local defense industry.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an international relations professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), urged the government to carefully study the effectiveness of weapons system procurement, considering the country’s limited room for defense spending.

“We have to ask, ‘What is the urgency? What are the main challenges? What is the best-available technology for purchase that is effective enough in dealing with [security] challenges?’,” she said.

LIPI researcher Diandra Megaputri Mengko said transparency and accountability were of the utmost importance when it came to modernizing weapons systems.

“It’s [transparency and accountability] not only in terms of budget spending but also in the planning process."

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