"Indonesia does not have an expansive foreign policy. The development of its defense industry is merely aimed at maintaining its sovereignty," said Director General of Security Potentials of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Pos Hutabarat.
Beijing (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China have declared that their cooperation in the development of their respective defense industries is for the purposes of regional peace and stability.

"Indonesia does not have an expansive foreign policy. The development of its defense industry is merely aimed at maintaining its sovereignty," said Pos Hutabarat, Director General of Security Potentials of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, here on Tuesday.

He made the remarks when paying a courtesy call on Zhang Jianhua, Administrative Director of the Chinese State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), on the sidelines of a meeting on Indonesia-China defense industry cooperation.

Hutabarat stated that Indonesia developed its defense in the light of its steadily growing economy.

"But the modernization of the military, including the development of the defense industry, has not been done with the intention of threatening or attacking other countries," he explained.

Meanwhile, Zhang said the Chinese defense industry was developed in an organized manner over a period of nearly 60 years.

"And what we have been developing so far is not designed to threaten and attack other countries but to maintain our sovereignty. If we are safe, there will be regional stability," he continued.

Zhang said the Chinese defense industry was developed on the principles of non-intervention in other countries` affairs.

"China respects the sovereignty of other countries, including their decision to develop their respective defense industries," he added.

Defense ties between the two countries have strengthened since the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Indonesian Ministry of Defense and the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense of the People`s Republic of China (SASTIND) on March 22, 2011, in Jakarta.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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