Authorities did not say what exactly caused offence. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported it related to posters of West Papua, an eastern Indonesian province where a low-level insurgency has been simmering for decades. "Military co-operation with Australian forces has been suspended temporarily due to technical matters," Indonesian military spokesman Wuryanto told AFP without giving details, but added he hoped the problem would "be resolved soon".
It was just the latest row between the key allies and neighbours, whose relationship has been beset in recent years by disputes over Jakarta's execution of Australian drug smugglers and Canberra's hard-line policy of turning migrant boats back to Indonesia.
Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said Indonesia had notified Canberra about the suspension, adding in a statement: "Some interaction between the two defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved." She said it related to "some teaching materials and remarks" at an Australian army language training facility, without giving details.
Indonesian newspaper Kompas said the row erupted after a visiting special forces instructor found teaching materials he deemed disrespectful towards his country's armed forces, as well as materials he thought insulted Indonesia's founding philosophy of "Pancasila". The ABC reported that the instructor had complained about training posters of West Papua displayed at the Australian Special Forces base in the western city of Perth last November, citing unidentified sources.
Papua's independence movement enjoys support among activists abroad, including in Australia. Indonesia keeps tight control over the area and is sensitive about any perceived attempts by foreign governments or NGOs to intervene. Payne said the chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, wrote to his Indonesian counterpart, General Gatot Nurmantyo, promising that the matter would be addressed. She said an investigation was continuing and pledged: "We will work with Indonesia to restore full co-operation as soon as possible."
Yohanes Sulaiman, an Indonesian military expert, said the suspension was significant but predicted it would not last long as co-operation was vital on matters such as security and trade. "Both countries need each other," he told AFP. "They need to maintain security in the South China Sea, especially now that China is becoming more dominant there."
There have been tensions between the Indonesian and Australian militaries in the past. Australia suspended training with Kopassus over the notorious unit's role in human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999 as the then-Indonesian territory geared up for independence, but it resumed several years later.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017