Indonesia, Malaysia ink defense cooperation pact

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesia and Malaysia strengthened cooperation in the defense sector through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his Malaysian counterpart, Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein, signed the MoU on the sidelines of the 42nd Session of the Malaysia-Indonesia General Border Committee (GBC Malindo) in Malaysia on Tuesday.

The Indonesian government welcomes all efforts to strengthen Indonesia’s relations with Malaysia as well as cooperation in various fields, Subianto said.

“I support the cooperation to strengthen relations with Malaysia. Malaysia and Indonesia have a special relationship,” he added in a statement received here on Tuesday.

The cooperation will cover periodic bilateral dialogues and consultations on strategic issues related to defense and military as a common interest. In addition, Indonesia and Malaysia will share strategic information in the defense sector through symposiums, seminars, and study visits.

Military cooperation will also be strengthened between the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the Malaysian armed forces in various fields.

Under the MoU, Indonesia and Malaysia will exchange personnel, conduct education and training, provide logistical support, pursue cooperation in defense science and technology, defense industry, and other forms of defense cooperation.

“Thank you for the signing of this MoU. I hope that in the next 50 years, the cooperation still brings benefits for the two countries,” he said.

The 42nd session of GBC Malindo, which was co-chaired by Indonesia and Malaysia, took place on August 8–10, 2022.

A number of important agendas were discussed during the session, including reports on joint progress in the fields of operations and non-operations. The operations field includes intelligence, land, sea, air, maritime, communications, electronics, search and rescue, and police operations.

Meanwhile, the non-operations field consists of the construction of cross-border posts, the exchange of trainers and the conduct of joint military exercises between the two countries, as well as the formulation of an agreement to add a joint post to improve coordination between the two countries.