Indonesia to get training to tackle Islamic terrorism

Jammu, Feb 20 (UNI) The Indonesian National Army has decided to get advanced weaponry training and other security-related cooperation from its Indian counterpart to tackle Islamic terrorism in its country, Indian Army sources said here today.

To deal the increasing danger of the Islamic terrorism in the country, the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian National Army General Djoko Santoso, with a 15 member high-level delegation, today met Indian Army officials here in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said the Indonesian Army official held a series of meetings with their Indian counter-part led by General Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 corps, Lt Gen Tej Kumar Sapru at Nagrota, the headquarters of the 16 corps.

In the meeting, General Santoso expressed mutual cooperation between Indonesia and India, which have become victims of terrorist attacks, to fighting terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism networks, army sources told UNI.

''The Indonesian army is seeking cooperation with many countries including India and Australia to combat terrorism in South-East Asia,'' an army official said adding that the Indonesian delegation was briefed about India's security perspective and concerns in the South-Asian region.

The Indonesian team included Assistant Chief of Staff for Security Maj Gen Tono Suratman and Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations Maj Gen Iwan Ridwan Sulandjana.

The delegation had already met with Indian Army Chief General J J Singh to chalk out measures for interaction and cooperation in military exchanges and training. The delegation would also meet defence Minister A K Antony.

The visiting delegation described the visit as ''fruitful and beneficial''. Both the sides held discussions on various security related aspects of mutual interest, the Army sources said.

India and Indonesia have held a number of joint patrols in the Malacca Strait, but this is for the first time in three years that an Indonesian Army chief is touring India. General Santoso is also the first chief of army staff from the ASEAN countries to visit the forward areas in Jammu and Kashmir.

It may be mentioned that the Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia (KMM), a militant group having link with Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been creating problem in Indonesia since long.

UNI