S'pore calls for stronger military ties<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil (left) greets visiting
\nSingaporean Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan at the former's office
\nas Singaporean Ambassador to Indonesia Edward Lee looks on.<\/p>\n
On the first day of a three-day working visit on Monday, Tan
\nalso met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and held talks on
\nvarious issues including terrorism and piracy.<\/p>\n
Tan, who is also Singapore's defense minister, said that
\nIndonesia and Singapore should build stronger military relations
\nto battle piracy in the two countries' waters.<\/p>\n
In July, the Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre said
\nIndonesia was the leading contributor to worldwide piracy attacks
\nin the first half of this year with 44 incidents.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia share the Malacca Straits
\nwhere piracy has been growing.<\/p>\n
The seas between the Indonesian islands south of Singapore
\nhave also become notorious for piracy.<\/p>\n
An archipelago of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia itself covers
\nsome 7.9 million square kilometers of maritime territory but
\nlacks a sufficient naval security system.<\/p>\n
Tan also said the two defense forces also pledged to continue
\ntheir cooperation in intelligence information exchange on
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
Tan said cooperation between the two countries on counter-
\nterrorism was \"very important for the stability of this part of
\nthe world.\"<\/p>\n
During the rest of his stay, Tan is also scheduled to pay a
\ncourtesy call on Vice President Hamzah Haz and meet with
\nCoordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
\nTandjung and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais.<\/p>",
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