Susilo meets world leaders at State Palace

Susilo meets world leaders at State Palace

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted courtesy calls on
Thursday from a number of foreign leaders to talk about efforts
to enhance relations ahead of the Asian-African Summit.

First on Susilo's guest list was Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf, who came to the State Palace in the morning. Gen.
Musharraf expressed a wish to collaborate with Indonesia in the
defense industry and trade fields.

Susilo's international affairs spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal,
said that the two leaders had agreed to increase defense
cooperation and encourage enhanced trade relations between the
private sectors of the two countries.

"Talks about cooperation in the defense industry took up most
of the time. Pakistan has developed independent military
technology that could be of interest to Indonesia," said Dino at
the State Palace.

Pakistan, a Muslim country with nuclear weapons, has been
trying to increase its defense capabilities by inking cooperation
agreements with various countries, including China, while
Indonesia has been trying to modernize its military capabilities,
which have been badly hit by a prolonged military equipment
embargo imposed by the United States

Dino said that the two leaders had also discussed efforts to
promote the values of modern Islam to the rest of the world, and
had touched upon the problems faced by the members of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

In the security and political fields, the two leaders were
involved in a discussion about recent security problems and
developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as attempts to
combat terrorism

"President Musharraf conveyed his desire to engage actively in
political developments in East and Southeast Asia," said Dino.

In the economic sector, Indonesia -- the world's largest
Muslim majority nation -- and Pakistan, expressed an interest in
establishing a business forum aimed at boosting cooperation
between the private sectors of the two countries.

Later in the day, Susilo received Kim Yong-nam, the chairman
of the presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly.

According to Dino, although the two leaders discussed the
Asian-African Conference, President Susilo implicitly conveyed
his support for a peace settlement between North Korea and its
neighbor South Korea.

"President Susilo hoped that the tension on the Korean
Peninsula could be eased through dialog, and said that Indonesia
would help both sides in any way that it could to help promote
peace," said Dino.

Dino denied speculation that the meeting also discussed North
Korea's controversial nuclear ambitions, or the involvement of
the United States in resolving problems in the region.

Meanwhile, later in the day, President Susilo also accepted
courtesy calls at the State Palace from Zimbabwean President
Robert G. Mugabe and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.

In the evening, Susilo received Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Sinawatra.