"This is not new cooperation as we have trained a lot of Afghan diplomats in Indonesia," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said after signing the MoU with her Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, on the sidelines of the fifth Extraordinary Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center.
Since 2011, Indonesia has signed 44 cooperation programs with Afghanistan to train 353 diplomats, Retno said.
Relations between the two countries have also become stronger with the establishment of Indonesian Islamic Center (IIC) in Ahmad Shah Baba Mina area, Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2014, she said.
The presence of the IIC will hopefully contribute to peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and encourage cooperation between Islamic academics and ulemas in the two countries to promote the understanding of moderate Islam, she said.
"The Indonesian Islamic Center is one of the icons of Indonesia-Afghanistan friendship and a symbol to disseminate the message of Islam as rahmatan lil alamin (a blessing for the universe)," she said.
Indonesia has also invited Afghanistan to join the ministerial international conference "Bali Process" to be held later this month. The conference will discuss people-smuggling and trafficking in persons and other transnational organized crimes.
Meanwhile, Minister Salahuddin Rabbani praised Indonesia which has helped organize the fifth Extraordinary OIC Summit themed "United for a Just Solution", with emphasis on the settlement of Palestinian and Al Quds Al Syarif (Jerusalem) issues.
"This Summit is very important to build unity and solidarity among Islamic states for the sake of Palestinian independence," Salahuddin said.
Indonesia and Afghanistan also have close cooperation in handling the issue of irregular migration, including the issue of asylum seekers and refugees.
Afghanistan participated in the fifth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference (BRMC) on people smuggling held on April 2, 2013, and Jakarta Declaration Roundtable Meeting on Addressing the Root Causes of Irregular Movements of Persons held in Jakarta on November 27-28, 2015.
(S012/a014)
Reported by Yashinta Difa P
(T.SYS/A/S012/A014)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
