Army Chief Of Staff To Italy Discusses Follow-up Cooperation Between Soldiers

Army Chief of Staff General TNI Dudung Abdurachman (left) spoke with the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army Lieutenant General Pietro Serino when the two met in Rome, Italy, Monday (29/5/2023). BETWEEN/HO-Indonesian Army Information Service

JAKARTA - Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General TNI Dudung Abdurachman departed from Jakarta to Rome, Italy, to discuss follow-up to cooperation between the two countries' Army, especially in strengthening the professionalism of soldiers.

General Dudung and Italian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Pietro Serino met in Rome, Monday (29/5), and both agreed that the follow-up to the cooperation needed to be carried out in order to build trust between the two countries' militaries.

To support cooperation between the TNI AD and the Italian Army in the future, bilateral cooperation realization is needed through Army to Army Staff Talks (AST) activities, Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE), intelligence data exchange, workshops, defense dialogue, Senior Officer Visit Program (SVOP), as well as exploring opportunities for cooperation in the defense industry, Thus reported by ANTARA, Seras, a 30 May.

During the meeting, Dudung also mentioned the importance of increasing the professionalism of soldiers through educational programs, training, joint operations, and modernizing defense equipment.

The modernization of defense equipment in at least 1 year has become one of Italy's priorities. In the ranks of the Army defense equipment, Italy plans to replace a number of tanks and their combat vehicles, including those of the Ariete Main Battle Tank (MBT) type.

In the same meeting, the leadership of the Indonesian Army and Italy also discussed the need to strengthen defense diplomacy both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Diplomacy, according to General Dudung and Lt. Gen. Serino, is important to build confidence, prevent conflict, maintain security and peace.

Finally, Dudung and Serino also discussed the importance of strengthening the capacity of soldiers to deal with disasters.

The Chief of Staff of the Italian Army and General Dudung agreed that Army soldiers must always be ready to help the government and relevant stakeholders not only deal with disasters, but also prevent disaster risks, especially in vulnerable areas.