President Yudhoyono: SE Asia stable and secure region

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Southeast Asia is a stable and secure region thanks to the ever increasing regional cooperation, including mutually beneficial cooperation among the military.

"That the 10-member ASEAN is aiming to form an ASEAN community is an example of regional cooperation," the President said while opening the Jakarta International Defence Dialogue (JIDD) at the Jakarta Convention Centre on Wednesday.

He noted that Indonesia now enjoyed good cooperation with Timor Leste, even though the two countries once had bitter relations.

"We continue to increase our cooperation with Timor Leste. TNI (Indonesian military) and FDDTL (Timor Leste armed forces) also have established cooperation. As a result, the Indonesia-Timor Leste border is the most secure border," he remarked.

He said regional security and stability could start from security cooperation among countries in the region.

Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the three-day event served as a means to promote intergovernmental cooperation in addressing security threat at regional and global levels. 

After all, the architecture of defense cooperation in the region would still require capacity building so it would have the same architecture as regional and global economic cooperation, he said. 

"In the future, defense cooperation will increasingly become more important to improve regional stability and security," the President said.

He added that the cooperation to encourage the architecture of defense cooperation should be stepped up to contribute more to regional stability.

JIDD is an international event organized by the Indonesian Defense Ministry and Defense University. JIDD 2012 is the second of its kind after the event was held last year.

Source: ANTARA