President Jokowi Meets with Malaysian and the Philippine Top Military Officials to Discuss Maritime Security
President Jokowi on Thursday (5/5) at Yogyakarta Presidential Palace meets with Foreign Affairs Ministers and Top Military Officials of the Philippines and Malaysia
President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Thursday (5/5) at 9 am Western Indonesian Time at the Yogyakarta Presidential Palace held a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and top military officials of the Philippines and Malaysia to discuss the issues of security in maritime borders between the three countries.
After the meeting, President Jokowi told the reporters that the meeting discussed four important points to be explained in details by foreign ministers and top military officials of the three countries.
First, for the joint patrol, ministers of foreign affairs and military officials of the three countries will give more details about the implementation on the ground, the President said.
The second point, he added, measures to be made when incident occurs in border areas and third is about exchanges of information in a quick way possible.
We will also open a hotline among crisis centers in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, President Jokowi said.
The fourth point, the President added, military of the three countries are expected to make a clear Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the joint measures to be done by the three countries.
So those four points to be explained in details today and we hope that through cooperation between the three countries, we can address security problems in the future, the President said, adding that during the meeting, they also discussed four Indonesian nationals who are still being held hostage in the Philippines.
One thing for sure, we know the location and in which island they are being held hostage, but it is a different group that kidnapped them. In the previous kidnapping case, the communication was long and very difficult. As for this one, weve known the location. Weve known in which island they are now being held hostage and we will continue maintaining communication with them, the President added.
Also attending the meeting were Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces General Gatot Nurmantyo, Indonesian Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Sri Anifah Aman, Chief of Malaysian Armed Forces Tan Sri Dato Sri General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, Secretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Jose Rene D Almendras and acting Philippine Commander Rear. Adm. Caesar Taccad AFP. (DID/UN) (Naster/YM/EP)
