At a Q&A session in the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday (June 3), the minister contrasted Indonesian military with its Myanmar counterpart, that is considered not in favor of the people of Myanmar.
"For Myanmar, it is clear that ASEAN will never accept authoritarianism and the Myanmar military regime's activities and actions which harm its own people," Subianto stated, as quoted from the written statement here on Sunday.
Indonesia also had a difficult past regarding the relations between the civilian and military. However, the Indonesian military had the initiative to withdraw itself from politics to maintain neutrality, he affirmed.
"I think we are one of only several examples in the world where the military has voluntarily withdrawn itself from national politics until today, and we are proud of it," he said.
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At the Q&A session, Subianto also highlighted the Indonesian military's determination to respect and side with the people.
"In Indonesia, our military tradition is that we are the people's soldiers; we arise from the people, and we are nothing without them," he expounded.
The minister appealed to Myanmar military to reflect and learn from Indonesia's steps. He added that any difficult condition can be overcome by maintaining the commitment that the military's paramount duty is to defend the people.
"We are keen to convince our counterpart in Myanmar that the military should always defend its people and not commit violence against its own people," Subianto emphasized.
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Translator: Fath Putra Mulya, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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