Vice Admiral Mark Hammond will meet with Indonesia’s navy chief Muhamad Ali next week with AUKUS set to be a permanent thorn in the bilateral relationship.
| Chief of Navy Mark Hammond will be in Singapore later this week as Australia’s defence and diplomatic chiefs seek to reinforce ties in the region that will haveNext Monday, Vice Admiral Hammond will meet with his Indonesian counterpart, Admiral Muhammad Ali, in Jakarta. In determinedly non-aligned Indonesia, many remain deeply opposed to the AUKUS pact to build nuclear-powered submarines, even though the official response has been muted.
This time Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry contented itself with reminding Australia of its treaty obligations. However, the nation’s concerns have not changed, according to security experts.“Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations are very good, but AUKUS is a conflict of interest between us,” said Curie Maharani Savitri, a defence and international relations expert and lecturer at Binus University in Jakarta.
In its most recent statement, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said Indonesia expects Australia to remain consistent in fulfilling its obligations under the NPT and IAEA Safeguards, as well as to develop with the IAEA a verification mechanism that is “effective, transparent and non-discriminatory”. China’s naval buildup has accelerated since AUKUS was formed and regional countries would mostly agree it has contributed to uncertainty, according to Collin Koh, a research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
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