To deter China, Indonesia mulls submarine deal with France

With France's assistance, Indonesia plans to invest heavily in developing its submarine fleet, perhaps ending its long-standing defence alliance with South Korea in that sector. The Indonesian Ministry of Finance has authorised the Ministry of Defense's request for US$2,16 billion in foreign loans to finance the submarine acquisition programme, according to this month's report from the defence resource Janes. The Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati cited a request from the Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto outlining a list of 25 military procurement programmes for which foreign loans have been proposed as the source of funding for 2023, according to a…