More progress is being made on the Southern Philippines piracy issue, with local media reporting that the Indonesian Navy has said it is ready to take part in coordinated joint patrols with Malaysia and the Philippines.
Navy spokesman First Admiral Edi Sucipto said the Navy was ready to deploy its personnel to the field at anytime.
He added however, that to arrange the equipment needed for the joint patrols, including Indonesia’s primary weapons system, called Alutsista, the Navy has to wait for a briefing from the headquarters of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
“Our main duty and function is to prepare our personnel, Alutsista, and our strategic plans. We are now waiting for the command from [TNI] headquarters,” Edi said.
Defense ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines gathered in Bali for the third Trilateral Defense Ministers’ Meeting, which ended on Tuesday.
In the two-day meeting, they discussed follow-up measures to a joint declaration on maritime security signed by the three countries in Yogyakarta in May, which set out standard operating procedures (SOPs) for trilateral maritime cooperation.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
