Russia-Ukraine War Should Be A Lesson For Government To Strengthen Defense Investment

JAKARTA - Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) considers that Russia's military aggression against Ukraine as the first war in 2022 should be a concern for the Indonesian government. In view of the fact that Russia's unrelenting attitude is attacking Ukraine with full force.

Member of Commission I of the DPR, Dave Akbarshah Fikarno Laksono, warned that the crisis in Russia and Ukraine should be a lesson for the Indonesian government, especially in the field of defense strengthening. "I think this is an opportunity for the government to further increase its investment in the defense sector," said Dave Laksono to reporters, Friday, February 25.

"Whether it's the number of soldiers, modernizing equipment, and also increasing the resources of our soldiers with training, establishing military cooperation with other countries, and ensuring there are no leaks with our sovereignty," he continued.

According to the Golkar Party politician, so far, the Indonesian military budget has an increasing trend. However, said Dave, when viewed from the needs and conditions of the world today, the Republic of Indonesia's defense is still far from adequate criteria.

"For example, the number of our fighter planes, our battleships, our combat equipment, our communication systems, our satellites, are still far from adequate, this is something the government must pay attention to," Dave said.

Defense must ensure that the Indonesian military is capable and ready to deal with all kinds of threats. "We must also look forward to the development of our military technology," stressed the General Chair of the Kosgoro 57 Commitment Making Officer (PPK).

In the context of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis, the West Java legislator emphasized that Indonesia also has a responsibility as part of the world's security guards to continue to voice that military aggression is stopped and restore the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people.

In addition, according to Dave, Indonesia must also use international forums through diplomacy so that the Russian-Ukrainian battle can be finished soon.

"Indonesia also has to be careful, we have to see if there are other countries that can do the same thing," he concluded.

It is known, based on the 2021 Global Fire Power (GFP) list of the world's strongest military, Indonesia ranks 16th, and in ASEAN Indonesia is the country with the strongest military. The US, China, Russia still occupy the top three strongest militaries in the world.

In 2021, Indonesia's military spending is USD 6.9 billion or approximately IDR 98 trillion. However, this is still below Singapore's 9.7 billion US dollars or around IDR 135 trillion.