Written by: Yokie R. Isjchwansyah
Recently, the House of Representatives (DPR) of Indonesia approved an arms and ammunition grant plan from the Ministry of Defence (DoD) to the Special Forces Command of the Royal Cambodian Army. Indonesia is planned to grant weapons and ammunition in the form of 150 SS2-V5 guns, 20 G2 Elite pistols, and 500 thousand rounds of 5.56 mm and 9 mm Caliber munitions each made by one of Indonesia's defence industries company, PT Pindad (Persero).
The plan has been discussed at the DPR Commission I work meeting with the DoD on 6 June 2024. Other than providing grants to Cambodia, the government will also receive a grant of 2,618 rounds of 76mm Naval Gun Oto Melara Munitions from Brunei Darussalam and one unit of Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) Ship former ROK Bucheon-773 from Republic of Korea which will be used by the Indonesian Navy. The DoD, represented by Deputy Minister of Defence, Muhammad Herindra, explained that there are four initiatives for Indonesia to do so, from strategic, political, technical, and economic perspective.
Reasons behind Indonesia Granting Arms and Ammunition to Cambodia
The first aspect is of course the economical aspect as a promotional opportunity for Indonesia's defence industry products. Indonesia is intensively promoting their defence industry products as Indonesia has set quite an ambitious target by aiming DEFEND ID, a holding of Indonesian state-owned enterprises to be among top 50 Defence Global Company in 2024.
Second is to increase Indonesia's confidence building measure in the region in order to establish regional security stability which is currently facing escalation over what is happening in the South China Sea. Indonesia itself acknowledges Cambodia as a strategic defence partner by placing the country with Phnom Penh as its capital and all Southeast Asian countries as the first priority in the level of military diplomacy relations based on the 2019-2024 Indonesian military diplomacy blueprint.
Third is to maintain a positive image towards Cambodia and strengthen solidarity among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Indonesia is noted to play a significant role in the history of the development of Cambodia's defence and security sector. As a fellow Southeast Asian country within ASEAN, Indonesia played a major role in reconciling Cambodia's peace with Vietnam through the Jakarta Informal Meeting I and II, Preparatory Meeting for the International Conference on Cambodia and acting as co-chair with France in the Paris International Conference on Cambodia.
In defence sector, Indonesia through the Special Forces Command of the Army (Kopassus) provided training for Cambodian special forces in Batujajar since the 1970s. The training provided by Kopassus to Cambodia later became the forerunner of the establishment of the Special Force 911 Command unit. In addition to its special forces, Indonesia has also provided assistance to the Cambodian Prime Minister's security forces since 2005.
Mutual visits between military officials of the two countries have also further strengthened the defence cooperation relationship between Indonesia and Cambodia. Based on this, the two countries agreed to enter a new chapter in their defence cooperation by signing an agreement in the field of defence back in 2017. The defence cooperation between the two countries includes various matters, such as regular bilateral dialogues and consultations, exchange of visits, sharing of intelligence information, cooperation in science and technology, capacity building through education and training programs and other defence areas.
According to the prevailing regulations in Indonesia, it is mandatory for defence cooperation to be ratified by the DPR. As of now, similar to the defence cooperation agreements with France, Brazil, India, and the United Arab Emirates, the DPR is still conducting assessments along with experts and relevant authorities from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Law and Human Rights prior to ratifying the defence cooperation agreements into law.
Defence Cooperation Prospect between Indonesia and Cambodia Moving Forward
For Cambodia itself, the prospect of future defence cooperation with Indonesia is to expand both capacity and capability of its military personnel by exploring education and training programs in defence sector other than special forces and prime ministerial security.
For Indonesia, defence cooperation with Cambodia encourages the expansion of the domestic defence industry market. In addition to increasing sales of weapons and ammunition manufactured by PT Pindad (Persero), Indonesia can also advertise other defence industry products for example aircraft built by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Persero), propellants made by PT Dahana and also electronic devices by PT LEN Industri (Persero).
Overall, defence industry collaboration and targeting ASEAN countries as target markets for the Indonesian defence industry is a wide open opportunity. Collaboration and diversification of the defence system's equipment can help Southeast Asian countries to minimize dependence on the two major powers that are currently in conflict, the United States and People’s Republic of China. However, on the other hand, Indonesia needs to be aware of Cambodia's domestic political turmoil, as it greatly affects domestic and foreign policy making, which will certainly have an impact on defence cooperation with Indonesia. In its analysis, the Fund for Peace ranked Cambodia as a high warning country in the Fragile States Index 2023.
Lastly, as a fellow ASEAN member state, improving bilateral relations with Cambodia is expected to ease Cambodia's dependence and tendency on China. Cambodia is known to have a close relationship with China, especially in the economic sector with many of Cambodia's infrastructure projects funded by China.
The current escalation of conflicts in the region, especially the South China Sea territorial dispute between China and several ASEAN member states such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam, requires the ASEAN member states to demonstrate solidarity now instead of later.
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About the Writer
Yokie R. Isjchwansyah is a Research Fellow at Center for Intermestic and Diplomatic Engagement (CIDE) and Postgraduate Student at Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy (PGSD)
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