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Asia News Network
4 days ago
- Business
- Asia News Network
Indonesia, Singapore boost defence ties amid global uncertainty
August 7, 2025 JAKARTA – Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to deepen their defense cooperation through more joint exercises and military exchange programs, reaffirming on Tuesday their shared commitment to uphold international law and maintain ASEAN unity amid rising global instability. As conflicts continue to escalate both within and beyond the region, the two neighbors emphasized their stance in favor of peace and dialogue, while remaining prepared to face potential threats, according to official statements from Jakarta. Singaporean Defense Minister Chan Chun Sing began a two-day working visit to Jakarta on Tuesday as part of a broader diplomatic push focused on defense. He is scheduled to meet with a range of stakeholders, including government officials, military personnel and defense experts. His visit follows a similar one just two weeks earlier by Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Defense Force Chief Vice Adm. Aaron Beng, who met with Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to discuss enhanced military cooperation. The top Singaporean general received a stately welcome at the Defense Ministry building in Central Jakarta before holding a closed-door meeting with Sjafrie, where the two discussed a coordinated response toward developing regional volatility. 'The two countries have agreed to continue to tighten our military relationship, as part of our effort to maintain regional stability and our conduct of good neighborliness,' the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. The agenda also included discussions on expanding joint training and combined military exercises. According to the official Singaporean statement, 'both ministers also discussed the ongoing geopolitical developments and emphasized the need for Singapore and Indonesia to work closely together, as well as the importance of open dialogue.' With Southeast Asia's geopolitical landscape increasingly shaped by the rivalry between global superpowers the United States and China, and the international order growing more unpredictable, countries in the region have struggled in recent years to strike a delicate balance between cooperation and nonconfrontation. Amid these shifting dynamics, Indonesia and Singapore, whose ties have been largely defined by strong economic interaction, have also felt the pressure. In response, the two countries agreed in 2022 to strengthen their defense partnership by finalizing the long-pending Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA). Most recently, Indonesia openly expressed its interest in learning from Singapore's robust cybersecurity force, with its high-ranking officials discussing cooperation opportunities with SAF on the matter. Following his meeting with Sjafrie, Chan delivered a keynote speech to around 250 members of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), where he underscored the need for unity between the two nations. 'We are not competing with one another. The real competition is never between Singapore and Indonesia,' Chan said, adding that the real competition is how both face global uncertainties together. 'For Singapore, we firmly believe that a successful Indonesia is good not just for Indonesians, not just for Singaporeans, but also for the region and the world'. Chan's itinerary in Indonesia also includes a visit to a military-operated kitchen supporting President Prabowo Subianto 's flagship free nutritious meal program on Wednesday. The Indonesian statement meanwhile added that Chan's visit also covered broader regional issues and reaffirmed ASEAN's role in conflict resolution. 'Through minister Sjafrie, Indonesia reaffirmed the importance of maintaining good international ties to prevent conflict, as has been witnessed through the tensions between Thailand and Cambodia,' the statement said. 'As a sovereign nation, Indonesia is committed to upholding peace, but at the same time to readying for any potential threats,' it continued.
DW
09-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
Denmark finalizes US defense deal despite Greenland gripes – DW – 07/09/2025
President Trump refuses to rule out forcibly annexing Greenland. Yet the Danish parliament has just passed a law allowing the US military free access to bases. Why? At first glance, it doesn't seem to make any sense. The US president has deeply rattled Denmark by reiterating several times he may invade and occupy the semi-autonomous island of Greenland for "national security" reasons. But rather than looking at how it could bolster its national defenses against a possible — even if unlikely — incursion, the Danish parliament on June 11 overwhelming approved an agreement to let the US military enter the country whenever it wants, for whatever reason it sees fit. "[T]he purpose of such presence of US forces is to further the efforts of the Parties to promote peace and security in the areas of mutual interest and benefit and to take part in common defense efforts," the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) states. Some areas may even be put under the exclusive control of the US, although Greenland — which already hosts a US base — and the Faroe Islands are excluded. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The DCA was drafted in 2023 with the Biden administration, at a time when transatlantic trust and cooperation were the norm and the notion of an unwelcome US deployment into any Danish territory was inconceivable. Why would Copenhagen advance the deal now? "We didn't have any option but to say yes," explained Royal Danish Defense College military analyst Peter Viggo Jakobsen, acknowledging some heightened public opposition to the move ahead of the final parliamentary vote. Ultimately, he told DW, Denmark needs the DCA more than the US does. Holding off ratification to show displeasure with the White House's Greenland statements, as some have advocated, would be "pointless" in Jakobsen's view. He doesn't think a land grab is actually likely to happen regardless of the president's bluster, so he advises just keeping Danish angst under wraps. "You saw what happened to Zelenskyy," when Ukraine's president tried to argue with Trump, Jakobsen reminded. "He was blown out of the water, and it was fantastic television. We're not really in a position where we want to do that, so I think you need to be tactical about it." And being tactical for this analyst means emphasizing the original intent of the DCA, which is creating the conditions for the US to come quickly to the aid of Denmark in case of emergency. "We will be deploying Danish forces on the Russian border in one of the Baltic countries" as part of NATO's presence there, Jakobsen explained, "and we need [the US] for air support if something should go wrong … and to enhance deterrence in order to make sure that the Russians don't attack our forces in the Baltics." But Danish lawmaker Per Clausen, a member of The Left group in the European Parliament, is among those who wanted his fellow parliamentarians back home to reject the DCA. "The idea that the US should have troops in Denmark and the US decides when the troops should be here and where they should be — it's a terrible mistake!" he told DW. "[Trump] had threatened Greenland. He had shown in his behavior against Ukrainians that we couldn't trust him," Clausen recalled, and "even in that situation, the Danish government said the 'US is our closest ally'. It will take some time to come out of this illusion, I think." Clausen believes Copenhagen's real allies lie in Europe, especially its nearest neighbors, and that the government should be weaning itself off of dependency on the US instead of binding itself closer. "We need to strengthen the cooperation with other Nordic countries and with Canada in the situation we are in now," he added. But Clausen may not find many kindred spirits wanting to distance themselves from US cooperation in the other Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden and Norway had all signed DCAs before Denmark did. Only in Sweden — which granted the US access to 17 bases or training areas in its agreement — was debate over the deal particularly "vociferous," as the Swedish Defense Research Agency's Niklas Granholm puts it. In a five-hour session in the Swedish parliament, the deal was accused of opening up the possibility for American soldiers to run amok all over the country and for the US to deposit nuclear weapons on Swedish territory. These arguments were "at best uninformed or something else worse than that, in my view," Granholm said, and may also have been the "last hurrah of those who were against NATO membership and military alignment." It nonetheless passed handily. Speaking of NATO, why do these countries, which are now all covered by the alliance's mutual security guarantee, Article 5, even need a separate pledge that Washington would defend them if needed? Granholm describes it as a second layer of assurance. "There are NATO plans and there are US plans for Europe," he explained, and with 32 allies each having the right to hold up consensus on a call for Article 5 back-up, "you can imagine that there's some kind of blockage" in the midst of an emergency. He believes this was the main reason for Sweden's push for the DCA. But in Denmark, Peter Viggo Jakobsen has a more pessimistic rationale for why the DCA is necessary now more than ever. "Imagine that NATO should fall apart," he suggested. "It's no longer inconceivable, given what we've just experienced [with Trump] the last six months." He says under such a scenario, US self-interest would take over and they'd need a presence in northern Europe. "They're very concerned about the Russian nuclear weapons that are based on the Kola Peninsula. And if you want to take them out, then you need to be present in Greenland, you need to be present in Iceland, you need be present in Norway and in Finland and in Sweden." And, Jakobsen added, "it's also useful to be able to place aircraft in Denmark." Now with the DCA, the US won't even have to ask first.
