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efense diplomacy has risen significantly in the last few decades. It is associated with the use of military and defense instruments as foreign and security policy tools and helps achieve national and foreign policy objectives abroad. Many countries have employed defense diplomacy activities to build trust between nations and militaries. Strategic consultations, joint exercises, trainings and education, port visits and several other activities are key activities of defense diplomacy.

Indonesia has also utilized defense diplomacy to enhance its overall public diplomacy. In regard to strategic consultations, Indonesia has participated in various forums such as the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting (ADMM), ADMM-Plus and the Shangri-La Dialogue.

In the context of joint exercises, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has been involved in a myriad of bilateral and multilateral exercises. In inter-military assignments, Indonesia has contributed peacekeeping missions under the United Nations. With their similar traditions, scholars note it is easier for the military and defense personnel to engage with their foreign partners.

However, the novel coronavirus pandemic poses several challenges to this important part of diplomacy. Many countries, including the United States, are unsurprisingly suspending their joint exercises. Training and education are also halted due to the rapid development of this COVID-19 pandemic. The situation has affected all countries, including Indonesia.

As stipulated in the country’s 2015 Defense White Paper, defense diplomacy is one of the key pillars of Indonesia’s defense policy and strategy. At the beginning of this year, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also underscored the importance of defense diplomacy when addressing defense and military leaders in Jakarta. Therefore, the current disruption of defense diplomacy will also affect Indonesia’s defense and military relations with partner countries.

Every year, the Defense Ministry and TNI organize a large number of defense diplomacy activities, ranging from joint exercises and strategic consultations including the ASEAN Chief of Defense Forces Meeting. Annually, Indonesia also holds bilateral exercises with fellow ASEAN countries and the major powers, such as Garuda Shield, the largest army bilateral exercise between Indonesia and the US. The TNI also attends multilateral exercises, such as Cobra Gold and the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo.

Hence, the disruption of these activities has limited Indonesia’s defense diplomacy in three ways. First, it restricts interaction between defense and top military leaders, particularly in the abovementioned forums. Indonesia has continuously used those forums for bilateral engagements to complement the multilateral engagements. Having no alternate forums will hinder the interactions with other defense and military leaders in the region.

Second, the disruption also obstructs engagement at the operational levels. In joint exercises, Indonesian soldiers can interact with their foreign counterparts, particularly from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries. This engagement helps facilitate exchange of knowledge and experience between militaries and serves as confidence-building measures. Moreover, it also contributes to nurture people-to-people connection that may contribute to strong relations between militaries.

Third, the suspension of joint exercises will limit Indonesia’s opportunities to access sophisticated military knowledge, such as that produced by modern partner countries, such as the US.

However, as in other regional and global networks of the government, virtual fora can continue in defense diplomacy. Online communication can also substitute activities at the lower levels for working groups.

To succeed in this virtual interaction, Indonesia should anticipate several key essential considerations. First is the security of these interactions that could be exposed to cyber threat. Strategic consultations have been limited to defense and military officials and to some extent supporting elements from other institutions such as the Foreign Ministry.

Involvement of more representatives from more diverse institutions will pose a higher security challenge.

Second, maintenance of the infrastructure — a technical and crucial issue particularly between in discussions and negotiations involving defense and military officials.

In addition to virtual defense strategic consultation forums, Indonesia may consider virtual joint training or exercises. With the advancement of information and communication technology, virtual reality and augmented reality have helped improve computer programs using tactical scenarios as demonstrated in various online games. Therefore, a modification on these games based on the needs of Indonesia and its foreign defense and military partners can be a plausible solution to replace a joint exercise. Nevertheless, this virtual exercise would be restricted to small level units and thus serve only temporary purposes.

Indonesia can also use humanitarian assistance programs for the pandemic to facilitate its defense diplomacy. Either as a recipient or donor, the military can be used to engage with Indonesia’s foreign counterparts to facilitate this program. Recently, the Indonesian Air Force was tasked by China to facilitate the transfer of medical supplies to Indonesia. In the near future, the TNI may consider sending some physicians and other staff to learn from other militaries such as China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Therefore, despite the current disruption, any potential foreign interaction involving TNI personnel or infrastructure can help accommodate Indonesia’s defense diplomacy objectives, which is to strengthen defense and military relations with international partners and also contribute to Indonesia’s overall public diplomacy.