US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Indonesia on August 26 as part of his tour to four Southeast Asian countries.

He held talks with his Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro,focusing on issues relating to regional and global security, includingthe 2013 Counter Terrorism Exercise, which will be co-chaired byIndonesia and the US this year with the participation of troops from the10 ASEAN member countries and eight dialogue partners.

Indonesia’s purchase of weapons from the US and cooperationprogrammes on military personnel training were also on table.

In its press release, Indonesia’s Defence Ministry affirmed that thetwo countries’ defence relations are the strongest point ever, marked bya close cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and benefit.

A day earlier in Malaysia, Hagel held talks with his Malaysiancounterpart Hishamuddin Hussein, during which the two sides committed tofurther strengthening military relations towards more cooperationfields.

During his ten-day tour, the US DefenceSecretary will arrive in Brunei on August 27 to attend the ASEANDefence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat and the second ADMM Plus. Hewill conclude his tour of Southeast Asia with a visit to the Philippineson August 29.-VNA