M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A United States general said Tuesday that Indonesia and the U.S. should pursue a closer defense cooperation to anticipate future challenges.
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace also said Jakarta and Washington should continue to strengthen their ""bond of friendship"".
""It is natural for two democracies to reach out to each other and depend on each other,"" Pace told a press conference after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Pace is in Indonesia for talks on military and defense cooperation with Yudhoyono and other government officials, including Defense Minister Juwono Soedarsono and Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.
The visiting U.S. general, who was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President George W. Bush in September 2005 to replace Gen. Richard Myers, said defense cooperation between the U.S. and Indonesia would allow the countries to tackle future problems.
""We can share ideas about how we provide protection for our people and how we participate in peacekeeping operations,"" he said.
Later Tuesday during a meeting with Juwono, Pace reiterated the importance of the Indonesian Military taking part in peacekeeping missions.
The director general for defense strategy at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Dadi Susanto, was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that Pace urged Indonesia to take part in peacekeeping operations in countries such as Afghanistan, under the aegis of the United Nations.
Dadi quoted Pace as saying the Indonesian Military would be well-accepted in countries such as Afghanistan given its stature as the largest Muslim country in the world.
Juwono and Pace also discussed measures to safeguard the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest and most important shipping lanes.
Pace said the U.S. military would continue providing whatever assistance was required to assure the safety of the Malacca Strait.
The U.S. has deployed maritime radars to help the Indonesian Military monitor the 500-mile long strait, Dadi said.
Defense cooperation between Jakarta and Washington has been an often rocky issue, with the U.S. on a number of occasions slapping military bans on Indonesia.
The U.S. imposed a restriction on military sales and cooperation with Indonesia over concerns about human rights abuses by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor in 1991. The U.S. Congress has imposed various military restrictions on Jakarta since 1992.
The Bush administration, however, considers Indonesia a strategic partner in the war against terrorism. In November 2005, the U.S. State Department issued a waiver removing all remaining congressional restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia. (06)
