REPLY BY MINISTER TEO CHEE HEAN TO MP MICHAEL PALMER ON STATUS OF DCA

1.30 PM AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Minister Teo:

Speaker Sir, as stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in his answer to an

earlier question today, the Extradition Treaty, the DCA and the four associated

Implementing Arrangements (IAs) to the DCA were negotiated and concluded as

one package. Let me give the House a sense of how this carefully negotiated

package came about, a flavour of the discussions. The negotiations were

complex and took many rounds.

The meeting on 23 April discussed and finalized all outstanding matters

pertaining to the ET and DCA, and it involved all the key players from Singapore

and Indonesia including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Ministers of

Defence, the armed forces chiefs and the Chief Negotiators of the ET and the

DCA. All the key people were there. This was a protracted meeting on 23 April,

that started in the morning and lasted well into the night, during which all the

remaining issues in the ET and DCA were extensively discussed and settled.

This was done with good will and patience on both sides, as we worked towards

an agreement, making sure all the matters were covered and settled. Both sides

had ample opportunity to raise any issues of concern for discussion. At the end

of the meeting on 23 April, the ET, DCA and its four associated IAs were

finalized, completed and agreed upon by both sides as a complete package. In

fact, that night, we issued a joint statement with Indonesia which said, and I quote,

?both sides made significant progress and were able to reach agreement on all

the remaining issues?. The joint statement reflected the spirit of goodwill in which

the package had been negotiated and the good faith in which it had been

concluded by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Defence and the

armed forces chiefs of both countries.

Since then, however, Indonesia has indicated that it wants to impose

substantive changes and new conditions on Republic of Singapore Navy training

in Area Bravo. Sir, naval training is not something new. It had been an integral

part of the previous MTA, which we had with Indonesia. During the many rounds

of negotiation since October 2005, training for the Republic of Singapore Navy

had always been a subject of discussion. The focus of the discussions was not on

the type of training, which had previously already been conducted under the old

MTA, but rather, the focus was on which area the naval training should take place

in. Several possible areas for naval training were considered, and both sides

finally agreed on 23 April after extensive discussions that the area for the naval

training would be in what is now called Area Bravo. The training itself was never

in contention, or a subject of discussion; only where to take place.

The media has also reported comments about the interpretation of Article 6 of

the DCA and how this relates to the IAs. During the series of negotiations

leading up to the meeting on 23 April, both sides agreed to have four IAs to the

DCA. An IA for Area Bravo was never raised during the course of the

negotiations. If there was a need to impose any new conditions on naval training

or to conclude a separate IA on naval training, Indonesia had ample opportunity

to raise the matter for discussion during the negotiations, before the carefully

balanced overall package was finally settled and agreed to on 23 April.

Singapore?s view therefore is that the package of agreements that was

concluded on 23 April is complete, and that what is already contained in the DCA

and its four associated IAs is sufficient to implement the DCA.

Nevertheless, as mentioned by my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

out of goodwill and in the spirit of cooperation, Singapore made a proposal to

Indonesia on 22 May 2007 suggesting a way forward. This was a significant step

and a sincere attempt to resolve this matter finally and conclusively. We are still

awaiting a reply from Indonesia on the specific proposals in our offer. We

welcome the assurances from Indonesia that it does not wish to change what was

agreed, and look forward to being able to conclude and implement the

agreements.

Singapore values the long standing relationship that has been built up between

the SAF and the TNI. This close relationship strengthens regional security and

has served both sides well for many years, especially in times of crisis when we

have come to each other's assistance. We are committed to working together

with our counterparts in Indonesia to ensure that this relationship remains strong

and positive.

MP Michael Palmer: I believe the Indonesians have indicated that they want a

cooling off period before they come back to the table. Is there any indication of a

timeline, that we would have to wait another year or so, before this matter is

concluded?

Minister Teo: Speaker Sir, as I have said, we have made them a serious

proposal on 22 May. We are hopeful that the Indonesians will be able to study the

proposal and come back to us with a substantive response to the points that we

have put forward in our proposal. We have no indication how much time the

Indonesians may need for this. We do understand that they have their own

processes and considerations, but we do hope that they will come back to us so

that we will be able to move forward and conclude this agreement. We are

certainly committed to doing so.

MP Irene Ng: Sir, the Indonesian media has been reporting the specifics of what

the Indonesian side has been thinking on the issue, including the specific areas

of disagreement. Can I ask the Minister to please enlighten us on this way

forward that is being proposed to Singapore, because it is puzzling when we say

that we don't want to make any substantive changes, when the Indonesian does,

and we say that there is a solution put forward. Can the Minister please

enlighten us?

Minister Teo: Mr Speaker Sir, I am not privy to the internal considerations of the

Indonesian government and its people in the various branches of government. I

also can only read what has been communicated in the newspapers and some of

them, some of the statements, do seem a little self-contradictory. But we do hope

that Indonesia, will look at the substantive offer that we have made, which we

believe would address most of their concerns, and come back to us with a

substantive response, to these proposals. We believe that this is a good way

forward. We also believe that the best way forward is to be able to communicate

with each other substantively in this manner, rather than to make statements in

public, which, one side or the other, may not know how seriously to take them,

because some of them are quite clearly polemical, and we should not be

conducting negotiations in that way.

MP Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Speaker Sir, I would like to ask the Minister as to what

are our options, if this DCA does not go through. What is the long term

implications to our forces, in terms of training, whether do we have our other

alternatives, and if we have other alternatives, then would the Minister consider

these alternatives now, rather than to wait until then.

Minister Teo: Mr Speaker Sir, these training arrangements with Indonesia have

been going on for many, many years. As I have told the house before, I

participated in the first ever exercise with Indonesia, in 1974, probably dates me

a little. But we have training arrangements with Indonesia to train, for example, in

Pekan Baru area, since the 1980s. We signed the Military Training Agreement

with them in 1995. And, we have had very good interactions with Indonesia

through these years. We have been able to work together in times of crisis. I

recall many of them because I was directly involved in things like the rescue of

hostages in Papua, Irian Jaya, I was involved during the search and rescue

operations in the Musi River, when the Silk Air aircraft crashed, and I was also

involved in the tsunami relief operations. So I remember all these things very

vividly and very distinctly, and the thing that struck me about all these events, was

how closely and fraternally the TNI and the SAF were able to work together

because we personally knew the people on the other side. I think that has been

the great value of the close exchanges and interactions that we have had with

Indonesia and this is the main reason why we feel that we would want to continue

with Defence Cooperation Agreement to strengthen our relations with Indonesia.

The relationship is an important one for us, from a strategic level and also from

the ability to work with each other in a comfortable, friendly and familiar way. In

terms of training of the SAF, we have other training alternatives. We have training

agreements, and DCAs and MOUs of various kinds, with about half a dozen

countries, in fact more than half a dozen countries. And we are able to train there,

we are able to train with their forces and we appreciate very much the

opportunities that these various countries have given us to train the SAF there.

And these arrangements will enable us to continue to maintain the operational

readiness, the training levels of our soldiers, sailors and airmen.

MP Lee Bee Wah: Mr Speaker Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, as in any

offer, there should be a validity period. Shall we impose this validity period? I

know that we are very serious about this whole thing, but on the other hand, I look

at the Indonesian side, I think they are taking their time, I mean, just balancing,

see what is beneficial to them. We have done so much things for them, helping

them all this while, but yet I think they are dragging their feet. I would think that we

should impose a validity period. Thank you.

Minister Teo: Speaker Sir, I think in such matters, certain amount of goodwill

and patience is always necessary. And, we try our best to understand the internal

processes that are going on in the Indonesia of today, and to accommodate

them as much as possible. So I think that for this process, the approach that we

would take is to exercise as much goodwill and as much patience as possible,

continue to demonstrate our will to want to work closely with Indonesia, and to

conclude a good agreement with them. And I think this is the only way we can

progress and move forward in our relations with our friends in Indonesia.