S'pore calls for stronger military ties

Agencies, Jakarta

Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil (left) greets visiting Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan at the former's office as Singaporean Ambassador to Indonesia Edward Lee looks on.

On the first day of a three-day working visit on Monday, Tan also met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and held talks on various issues including terrorism and piracy.

Tan, who is also Singapore's defense minister, said that Indonesia and Singapore should build stronger military relations to battle piracy in the two countries' waters.

In July, the Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre said Indonesia was the leading contributor to worldwide piracy attacks in the first half of this year with 44 incidents.

Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia share the Malacca Straits where piracy has been growing.

The seas between the Indonesian islands south of Singapore have also become notorious for piracy.

An archipelago of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia itself covers some 7.9 million square kilometers of maritime territory but lacks a sufficient naval security system.

Tan also said the two defense forces also pledged to continue their cooperation in intelligence information exchange on terrorism.

Tan said cooperation between the two countries on counter- terrorism was "very important for the stability of this part of the world."

During the rest of his stay, Tan is also scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Vice President Hamzah Haz and meet with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais.