This joint drill is an agreement between the leaders of the two countries...."
Jinan, China (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China have agreed to expand anti-terror cooperation to anticipate the ever increasing terrorism threats from land, sea and air, an Indonesian military officer said.

Terrorism threats are varying all the time and that anti-terror cooperation with other countries including China needs to be intensified, assistant for operations to the Indonesian Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Dedi Kusnadi Thamim said here on Sunday.

"We have begun a joint anti-terror drill involving the Indonesian Army`s Special Force (Kopassus) and the Special Forces from the Chinese People`s Liberation Army. Looking ahead, we can develop it into an anti-terror drill between the two countries` special naval and air forces," he said.

He said the expanded anti-terror cooperation between the two nations is aimed not only at fostering the existing good cooperation but also at improving the professionalism of the two countries` special forces of the army, navy and air force.

"The expanded cooperation is also important to anticipate the varying terrorism threats particularly in the Southeast Asian region and the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff of Jinan Military Region Lt. Gen. Zhao Zhongqi expressed hope that the joint military drill would be enhanced in the future with more varying materials according to the patterns and degrees of terrorism threats.

"This joint drill is an agreement between the leaders of the two countries. I hope that it could be enhanced in the future. In the first drill, we have learned how the commander led a special operation and in the second phase, the drill focused on the individual skill and capability of the special forces in addressing terrorism threats," he said.

This is the second time for the Indonesian Army`s Special Force and its Chinese counterpart to conduct a joint military drill. Code-named "Sharp Knife II/2012", the drill took place at the Jinan military region`s integrated training ground from July 3 to 15. The drill brought together 76 personnel from each of the two special forces. (S012)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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