The US defense secretary is in Bali to attend a meeting of ASEAN defense ministers and their dialog partners.
Earlier, on Sunday evening, Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Panetta met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting to discuss cooperation in the military field.
Purnomo said that at the meeting the US government expressed its commitment to providing Indonesia with military hardware for its main armament system.
But Purnomo did not yet know what type of weapons Indonesia would receive from the US.
Besides that, Purnomo said, the US also supported the planned formation of an ASEAN Security Community in 2015.
"Indonesia will also develop a maritime security system because two thirds of its territory consist of seas," he said.
Purnomo said the United State had already provided a radar system that had been installed in the Strait of Malacca and would do the same for the Sulawesi Strait.
The head of state is on a four-day working visit in Bali from October 21 to 24, 2011, among other things, to open an ASEAN Fair.(*)
O001/HAJM
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
