January 20 2012, Jakarta: Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Friday that the governments of Indonesia and Netherlands have completed talks on Indonesia's plan to buy 100 Leopard tanks from Netherlands and are waiting for approvals from respective parliaments.
The plan was made as the Indonesian military seeks to modernize its weaponry to make them in par with the strength of neighboring countries.
The defense minister said that the Leopard tank 2A6 was suitable with the specification of weaponry needed by the Indonesian army.
"The tanks have met the requirement, the specification needed by our military. We will meet what our army requires," Yusgiantoro said.
Nevertheless, both governments of Indonesia and Netherlands had to convince their parliaments which seemed to oppose the plan.
Several Indonesian lawmakers have said that the tanks were not suitable with the geography of Indonesia, while the parliament in Netherlands voiced concern that the tanks could be used for military operation against human rights by Indonesian military.
Minister Yusgaintoro said that his ministry was to discuss the plan with the parliament in a hearing on Tuesday.
"A hearing with lawmakers on Commission One (in charge of politics and defense) in parliament building on Tuesday is discussing about the purchase plan," he said at the police academy here.
Indonesian military has sought to buy weaponry with higher quality and lower prices. Indonesia had expected to be able to buy the tanks from Netherlands with lower prices as the country was trimming its budget for weaponry that might lead it to reduce its military equipment.
Indonesian army had been also negotiating with several countries in Europe on weaponry purchase, Army Chief of Staff General Pramono Edhie Wibowo said.Indonesia has allocated about 14 trillion rupiah (some 1.54 billion U.S. dollars) to support the weaponry modernization plan for 2011 and 2012, he said.
Among the equipment to be bought were tanks, helicopters for combat and transport, anti-war plane equipment and others, said Wibowo.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that the government sought to purchase military equipment from European countries suffering from the economic crisis and might want to trim their weaponry, from which the president expected Indonesia could buy them at cheaper prices.
Terrorism and separatist movements are among the main threats being faced by the Indonesian army.
Source: Xinhua
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