Indonesia stops military, intelligence cooperation with Australia

Posted on November 20, 2013 by sagarmedia

20
11
2013
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that Indonesia had temporarily stopped its military and intelligence cooperation with Australia while waiting for official reply from Australian government upon queries submitted by Indonesian government on Australia’s wiretapping on Indonesia.

Indonesia has submitted its official query to Australia upon the wiretapping, President Yudhoyono issued the order to stop several forms of joint military drills with Australia in all forces that include the navy, the army and the air forces.

The president also ordered to stop intelligence information sharing with Australia.

“I have ordered to temporarily stop the coordinated military operation aimed at intercepting people smuggling on waters. We cannot proceed on those activities if our troops are being tapped as well as against us,” the president told a press conference held at the presidential palace here.

People smuggling issue has been a key issue the two countries have been facing at the moment as illegal migrants have keep coming to Australia on boats, made stopover in Indonesia before going to Australia.

Indonesia and Australia have been actively discussing this issue, set up international handling mechanism through Bali Process and establish joint patrol to intercept illegal migrants on waters that separate the two countries.