The discussion took place during a limited meeting at the Ministry of Defense office here on Tuesday.
“Earlier, it was briefly mentioned that there was such a plan (for the meeting between Prabowo and Ishiba), and today’s activity is to support the visit plan,” Head of the ministry's Defense Information Bureau, Frega Ferdinand, stated here on Tuesday.
In a press conference after the meeting, Ferdinand highlighted that the two ministers also spoke about continuing the cooperation in defense and security that had been in place before.
Ferdinand expressed hope that the meeting would create new opportunities for Indonesia and Japan to hold future meetings between ministries and military commanders to discuss defense and military matters.
“It is expected that this can be improved and that we can have another two-plus-two meeting and not just at the levels of the defense minister and the foreign affairs minister but also at the levels of the commander and chief of staff of the Armed Forces,” Ferdinand explained.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told the media in Tokyo that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will visit Indonesia and Malaysia on January 9-12 to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional issues.
Ishiba is scheduled to meet Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim to convey Japan’s aspiration to build closer bilateral relations with Malaysia and to discuss the situation in the region. Ishiba will then meet with President Prabowo Subianto to discuss efforts to boost security cooperation.
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Translator: Walda M, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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