Minister Pushes for Ratification of Indonesia-Singapore Defense Agreement

TheIndonesia.id - Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto has revealed his Ministry is pushing for the ratification of Defence Cooperation Agreement, or DCA, with Singapore as it met the Singapore Army’s Chief of Army Brigadier-General David Neo during his visit to Jakarta.

Subianto said Indonesia is committed to further advance bilateral cooperation with its neighbor country in defense to also create stability in the region.

“Defense cooperation between the two countries can be developed in other sectors, such as defense industry and cyber defense,” Subianto said in a statement on Tuesday, May 10.

As reported by Antara, on January 25 this year, Indonesia and Singapore signed a number of cooperation agreements, including the DCA – and ratification is necessary before the agreement can start being implemented.

This wasn’t the first time a defense agreement between the countries was signed as a DCA was also signed in 2007. However, it was failed to be ratified upon rejection from the House of Representatives that considered the agreement could potentially become a threat to the two states’ sovereignty.

Brigadier-General David Neo visited the Ministry of Defense’s headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday. In the meeting, Subianto expressed the intention to maintain good relationship and advance cooperation and collaboration with Singapore.

It was also revealed after the meeting that Neo graduated from Indonesian Army Staff and Command School, or Seskoad.

Indonesian Army chief of staff Dudung Abdurachman was also present on the occasion.