Friday, April 25, 2008
MoU on RI-US Defense Cooperation to be Formalized Soon
Source: Antara News

Jakarta - A memorandum of under-standing (MoU) on defense cooperation between Indonesia and the United States will be formalized within the next two months, an Indonesian defense ministry official said.

"We have submitted a number of formulations concerning defense cooperation between the two countries, and with the MoU the cooperation is expected to become more effective," the ministry’s director general for defense strategy, Maj Gen Syarifuddin Tippe, said here Thursday.

He pointed out that in the 6th Indonesia-United States Security Dialog (IUSSD) in Washington DC on April 14-20, the two parties agreed to formalize as soon as possible their agreement to cooperate in defense matters.

Syarifuddin said that with such a legal umbrella, defense cooperation between the two countries could cover wider areas and would be more effective than before.

"Also, after the MoU has been signed , the two parties will be equal in position in every negotiation on every field and form of cooperation in the defense field," Syarifuddin said, adding that the RI-US Security Dialog was a follow-up on a joint statement of the two countries' presidents in Washington DC in September 2001.