The United States and Australia should involve other nations in the Pacific in joint exercises in order to foster regional confidence that their planned military base in Darwin is indeed meant for humanitarian assistance.

Indonesia has received “great information” from both US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard that the planned deployment of 2,500 US marines in Darwin, which is only 830 kilometers from Indonesia, is not directed at any particular country, but rather, among other things, is meant to deal with emergency situations, including possible natural disasters, according to Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

“Actually, Indonesia proposed this to Australia, perhaps if that’s the case, then we should have a joint exercise involving Indonesia, Australia, Japan, the US and not the least China on humanitarian [assistance], natural disaster response situation,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday in an interview at his office in Jakarta.

“So, we can have even more confidence and even more sense of common purpose in our region.”   Marty said last Wednesday that he did not want to see the bilateral defense agreement between Australia and the US take a provocative tone, as this could create tension.
“What I would hate to see is for the agreement to provoke a reaction and counter-reaction that would create a vicious cycle of tensions and mistrust,” he told a press conference on the sidelines of ASEAN-related summits in Bali.

China said on Wednesday that it would conduct regular annual naval exercises in the western Pacific later this month, emphasizing its right to do so in the face of regional fears about growing tension in the region.  “This is an annual, planned routine drill. It is not directed at any specific country or target and is in keeping with relevant international laws and practices,” Reuters quoted China’s Defense Ministry’s website as saying.

“China’s freedom of navigation and other legal rights should not be obstructed,” it said, without giving further details about where the drills would be held. Marty, however, has softened his stance. Last Thursday, when asked if the US’ Darwin military base plan could provoke further tension in the region, he said: “This must not be seen as something disturbing.”

Last Friday, he also said that the matter was the US and Australia’s business. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, the chairwoman of the Habibie Center’s Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, said Indonesia was actually “a bit worried” about the US’ plan in Darwin because of the city’s proximity to Indonesia and because Indonesia could be caught up in a
cold war.

“The region could become another flash point. Southeast Asia doesn’t want to return to the Cold War. The Cold War was very hot in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia in particular doesn’t want to see its backyard become a battlefield of powers,” she told the Post.  

Both Obama and Gillard reassured President Yudhoyono that the US’ plan in Darwin “would not be a threat” to Indonesia’s integrity. The US said in a statement that the marines would be deployed for emergency purposes only after Marty made his first statement on the US’ plan in Darwin.