Jakarta – Indonesia's President Suharto has ordered officials to negotiate the purchase of Russian fighter jets and other military hardware, a minister said here Friday.
"The President has instructed Bappenas (the National Development Planning Agency) to coordinate the possibility of buying military equipment from Russia, particularly to improve our air defence system," the state minister of National Development Planning, Ginanjar Kartasasmita said.
The order could include fighter planes, radars and guided missiles, Kartasasmita said after meeting Suharto.
Armed Forces Chief General Feisal Tanjung is scheduled to visit Moscow next month to "further negotiate the possible purchase," he said.
A team of senior Indonesian officials has conducted preliminary negotiations in Moscow about a possible deal "and has already informed us of its findings," he said without elaborating.
Indonesia earlier this month cancelled its planned purchase of nine US F-16 fighter planes citing "wholly unjustified criticisms" of Indonesia in the United States Congress.
Jakarta, which also withdrew from the US Expanded International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, said it objected to US criticism over its human rights record, particularly in East Timor.
Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony in 1976, a move never recognized by the United Nations. Since then the Indonesian military has frequently been accused of committing human rights violations in the territory.
Kartasasmita rejected speculation that the planned purchase from Russia was neccesitated by the cancelled F-16 deal, pointing out that a Russian delegation came to Jakarta in February to offer military equipment to Indonesia.
"Our defence equipment does not just come from the United States. We also have Hawk fighters from England, as well as tanks and armoured vehicles from England and France," he said.
Kartasasmita, a retired airforce marshall, said he had examined the capabilities of the Russian fighters "such as the Mig-29 and Sukhoi-28" at the Paris Air Show.