Minister of Defense Malaysia, Indonesia discuss regional security

JAKARTA – The meeting between the Minister of Defense, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday discussed various issues including security challenges and promoting stability in the Southeast Asian region.

Both ministers are committed to continue supporting ASEAN as a peaceful, free and neutral zone thus contributing to the well-being of the region amidst the current challenges.

“We discussed and agreed that the issue of ensuring ASEAN Centrality can continue to be used as a guide to steer the future of the region,” he told reporters after a courtesy call on Prabowo, who is also the President-elect of Indonesia, at the Ministry of Defense, here.

Mohamed Khaled (fourth, right) together with Prabowo Subianto discussed various issues including border security, intelligence cooperation, as well as science and technology research for the progress of both countries. Named Photo

In the meeting, Mohamed Khaled emphasized the importance of Indonesia as a developed and prosperous country capable of bringing balance between ASEAN and other countries to face challenges in the region.

The two ministers also discussed initiatives to increase military relations based on the agreement signed in 2022 including intelligence and science and technology in the defense sector.

He said, officials in the ministries of the two countries will hold follow-up discussions on cooperation in a number of related focus areas given that ‘war and challenges in the defense sector and industry depend on science and technology.’

“We also agreed to pay particular attention to dealing with cyber security challenges and also terrorism, the implementation of this year’s General Board Committee Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in November or December,” he said.

The two-hour discussion also touched on the issue of Myanmar, the South China Sea and unrest in the Middle East.

The two leaders met for the second time after the first meeting in Kuala Lumpur on April 4.

Mohamed Khaled’s arrival began with the playing of the national anthems of both countries, before inspecting the Guard of Honor accompanied by Indonesian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant General Muhammad Herindra.

His delegation included the Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia, Syed Md Hasrin Tengku Hussin; Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, Datuk Seri Isham Ishak; Defense Attache, Brig Gen Azrin Iskandar Zulkaply and Director General of the Malaysian Defense Intelligence Organisation, Lieutenant General Datuk Mohd Razali Alias. – Named