Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – TNI (Indonesian military) commander Air Martial Hadi Tjahjanto conveyed his hope for closer military ties with Australia at the annual 2019 Australia-Indonesia High Level Committee (Ausindo HLC) forum in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta.
Based on a TNI press release received by Detik.com, Tjahjanto opened the first session of the 7th Ausindo HLC at the Air Force Academy Command Headquarters in Yogyakarta on Thursday August 1.
Tjahjanto said that geographically, Indonesia and Australia are close neighbours and because of this closer military cooperation is needed between the TNI and the Australia Defence Force (ADF) in order to support improving bilateral relations between the two countries.
He hopes that the fraternal atmosphere at the forum can have a positive and broad impact on improving cooperation between the two armed forces in the future. He believes that the two neighboring sides need to pay close attention to developments in the South China Sea and the issue of handling natural disasters.
“Both countries must pay close attention to global developments, including among others the issue of the South China Sea, developments in the Korea Peninsula, tensions in the Middle East, terrorist attacks, cyber threats and dealing with natural disasters”, said Tjahjanto.
The Defense Alumni Association (Ikahan) was formed on March 22, 2011. It is hoped that the Ikahan will also be able to provide opportunities for cooperation between personnel from the two armed forces.
In this way, the relationship will not just be institutional but also more individual in character and this will in turn strengthen cooperation between the TNI and the ADF.
ADF chief General Angus Campbell said he hopes that the 7th Ausindo HLC can become a forum for exchanging views, especially when confronting changes in the regional security environment. Like Tjahjanto, he hopes that productive and strategic agreements will be produced by the forum. (dnu/hri)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Panglima TNI Harap Hubungan yang Lebih Erat dengan Militer Australia”.]
