TNI, SAF to continue cooperation

JAKARTA: Indonesia Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) chief Maj. Gen. Ng Yat Chun ended on Friday their two-day talks on defense cooperation between the two neighbors.

Both parties concluded that their cooperation during the course of last year, including antipiracy operations in the Malacca Straits and intelligence information exchanges, had met its target. The two armed forces decided to continue the cooperation this year, the TNI information service said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

During the meetings, which were held in Singapore, Endriartono proposed joint efforts to deal with transnational crimes.

Endriartono was accompanied by other TNI top brass, including outgoing TNI chief for general affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago and TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Apart from military training, the TNI and SAF also agreed to boost education cooperation. This year, six mid-ranking TNI officers are being invited to pursue their masters degrees in Singapore. The SAF is also offering English training programs to a number of TNI officers.

In exchange, the SAF will send some officers to Indonesia to learn Bahasa Indonesia. -- JP