By Xinhua
Jakarta : Indonesia and India will boost military cooperation in the fields of training and education of officers and explore possibilities in producing military equipment, officials from the countries said Thursday.
Secretary General of Indonesian Defence Ministry Lt. General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and his visiting Indian counterpart Shekhar Dutt made the statement at a joint press conference here at the end of a four-day visit of the Indian delegation.
Indian delegates engaged in discussion with Indonesian defence ministry and visited military industries in West Java province, including the production of aircraft, ships and weapons, said Sjamsoeddin.
"There are some to be followed up in the fields of education, training and operation in natural disaster," he said.
"Indonesian and Indian delegations have conducted discussion and presentation. There will be a continuity of these, including the supply of weapons," added Sjamsoeddin.
Major General Dardi Susanto, director general of strategic defence of Indonesian defence ministry, said India had superiority in the production of radar, electronic and cannon.
He said that Indonesia and India could also cooperate on the maintenance of jet fighter Sukhoi. New Delhi already produces the warplane.
The director said the Indonesian defence delegation would visit India in October.
India's Dutt said there were possibilities of the two countries to jointly produce military equipment.
"We visited your aircraft and ship building industries, and I see the possibility of a large collaboration and cooperation, co-production and co-development and joint production," he said.
In January 2001, the governments of Indonesia and India agreed to cooperate on defence activities.
In the wake of the lifting of the US embargo of sales of military equipment on Indonesian armed forces recently, Indonesia is seeking to diversify the source of its weaponry.
The US imposed the ban due to the poor human rights record of the Indonesian military before and after the referendum in Timor-Leste in 1999.
Indonesia has allocated $1 billion for purchasing military weaponry for the next five years.