By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Indonesia does not need to build up a large and threatening military and is more concerned with equipping itself better to respond to natural and man-made disasters, the defense minister has said.
“We don’t have the money to build a large threatening force in Indonesia,” Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono was quoted by major newspaper The Jakarta Post as saying on Friday.
“First because we don’t need it, second we can’t afford it and third because a large proportion of the country’s budget is focused on economic development and social protection,” he said.
For a country the size of Indonesia, which has a population of about 230 million and more than 17,500 islands, the minister estimated a defense budget of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars is required.
The current defense budget is about 3.2 billion dollars, he said.
“So forget about building up a 200-ship navy or a three-squadron air force. Our focus is on transport ships, transport aircraft, transport vehicles because the role of the defense force is more of an emergency response to help Indonesians affected by natural disasters, man-made disasters,” he said.