JAKARTA, Sept. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indonesian Ministry of Defense plans to propose a 7.56-percent increase in its budget next year to 23.6 trillion rupiah (some 2.36 billion US dollars) from the current 21.9 trillion rupiah (2.19 billion US dollars).

    The rise will partly be used to finance defense programs aimed at maintaining Indonesia's sovereignty and unity, the ministry said on Friday.

    According to the ministry's budget proposal, the fund allocated for these programs will be increased by more than 127 percent from 25.76 billion rupiah (2.576 million US dollars) to 58.59 billion rupiah (about 5.859 million US dollars).

    Indonesian Defense Minster Juwono Sudarsono said the proposed budget increase for the programs is to empower the Indonesian Military (TNI) to deal with "heightened threats against the country's sovereignty and unity".

    He declined to detail what these threats are but said the funds will not include purchases of military equipment.

    "Sovereignty is no longer an absolute value. We can see that more than 12 foreign states have put our territory under surveillance. So, efforts to guard the unity of this state are a must," Juwono was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying Saturday.

    "It is a miracle that we are able to keep this vast territory from breaking apart, should we look at the condition of our military, whose numbers and equipment are inadequate," he said, citing as a comparison Singapore that allocated twice as much as Indonesia's defense budget to secure its 45-kilometer-long territory. Enditem