Indonesia aims to modernise military amid budget constraints

The modernization of military weapons was stressed on Thursday by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who cautioned that any expenditures should be made carefully because the state budget was constrained. The 270 million-strong archipelago nation, which has Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is working to modernise its armed forces but has fallen behind its neighbours in recent years. “Spending for military hardware must be done wisely, in terms of the amount or allocation,” Jokowi, as the president is known, said during an armed forces parade. Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is rumoured to be running for president in the coming year to succeed Jokowi, has recently been in charge of a number of acquisitions, including the purchase of 42 Dassault Rafale fighter jets for $8.1 billion, 12 new drones from Turkish Aerospace for $300 million, and 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets for $800 million. In July, Jokowi also urged his cabinet to keep a “healthy” budget as he drew attention to excessive expenditure by security organisations, notably the defence ministry. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank, among Southeast Asia’s six developing market countries, Indonesia has had the lowest defence spending per capita and as a proportion of GDP during the past ten years. (With agency inputs)