Visited By The Commander Of The Malaysian Army, Defense Minister Sjafrie Discusses Personnel Exchange

JAKARTA - Indonesian Minister of Defense (Menhan) Lieutenant General TNI Retired. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin received a visit from the Commander of the Malaysian Army (PAT) General Datuk Mohd Nizam in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 16.

Head of the Information Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) Brigadier General TNI Frega Wenas said the meeting discussed, among other things, increasing personnel exchange as part of defense diplomacy.

"In the midst of an atmosphere that may be very dynamic and dynamic in the development of a strategic environment, of course this defense diplomacy can be one of the things that contribute positively," said Brigadier General Frega when met in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 16, as quoted by Antara.

If tensions occur, he said, the military or defense of a country will be the spearhead.

Therefore, by building defense diplomacy, a sense of trust will be built from one country to another, especially because Indonesia and Malaysia have a fairly strong history.

In addition, Brigadier General Frega revealed that in the meeting there was also a discourse to explore joint exercises. The plan is not only to increase capacity in technical or tactical matters, but how to build trust and personnel relations, which are often forgotten in organizing joint exercises.

Not only that, he said there were also plans from Malaysia to explore cooperation with Indonesia in the defense industry, both in the production of weapons and tactical vehicles.

Until now, Malaysia is one of the consumer countries that buys weapons and tactical vehicles to the Indonesian strategic defense industry, PT Pindad (Persero).

"Well, of course this is explored and even the defense industry itself is one of the topics that are seen as quite important in the context of ASEAN, especially in the context of the ASEAN Defense Ministry Meeting," he said.

If countries in Southeast Asia can strengthen defense, Brigadier General Frega believes this will be evidence to the world that countries in Southeast Asia, both Indonesia, Malaysia, and other countries, can collaborate to build a peaceful area and have independence in defense.

During the meeting, according to him, it was also mentioned about several positive things that have so far been carried out between Indonesia and Malaysia, including the presence of the General Border Committee Malaysia-Indonesia (GBC Malindo) and various meetings at high levels, which he hopes is not only at a strategic level.

In addition, Brigadier General Frega stated that the meeting discussed the desire of Malaysia and Indonesia to continue to build cooperation, both in the defense and military fields.

Moreover, this year Malaysia is serving as Chair of ASEAN and the Indonesian Defense Minister had met with the Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin some time ago.

"So, there is indeed a fairly strong relationship between the two countries. Of course, this is a commitment as a Southeast Asian country, which we as neighbors, especially since we historically have one clump, want to build a partnership," said Brigadier General Frega.

Before discussing with the Indonesian Defense Minister, the Commander of the Malaysian Army was greeted by the Deputy Minister of Defense (Wamenhan) of the Republic of Indonesia, Marshal Madya TNI Retired. Donny Ermawan in a military ceremony.