Indonesia, Australia strengthen cooperation to overcome terrorism

The governments of Indonesia and Australia, in a move to strengthen cooperation to deal with terrorism, organized the second meeting of the "Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Council on Law and Security" in Sydney.

"We are present in Sydney today for the second ministerial meeting between Australia and Indonesia in the field of law and security," Australian Attorney General George Brandis remarked in a press conference here on Wednesday.

A similar meeting was earlier held in Jakarta last December to serve as a forum to coordinate cooperation and roles the two countries must play in connection with international security, especially when it comes to tackling terrorism.

During the meeting, George Brandis was accompanied by Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan, and former Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty.

The Indonesian delegation to the meeting comprised Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti, National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) Chief Commission General Tito Karnavian, and Immigration Director General Ronny F. Sompie, among others.

"We will share our views in this meeting regarding the threat faced by the region, and will also make a commitment to strengthen intelligence cooperation between Australia and Indonesia," Brandis stated.

"This is a very, very important meeting because the governments of Indonesia and Australia are equally interested in preventing terrorism in our respective countries," he added.

In the meantime, Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan noted that the cooperation between Indonesia and Australia was proceeding well because of a good understanding between President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

"We are confident that this cooperation will only improve further in the future, and the two countries will continue to exchange intelligence information and help each other in capacity building in a number of areas," Panjaitan emphasized.

According to him, one example of success in addressing the terrorist threat was the mapping of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Southeast Asia, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Source: ANTARA