Indonesia, Pakistan to resume counter-terrorism ta

joney549

Indonesia and Pakistan planned to hold talks on counter-terrorism in coming weeks in Jakarta as an effort to cope with the threat and to stress the stance of Islam against terrorism the world about, ministers of the two countries said Friday.
The statement was conveyed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his counterpart from Pakistan Makdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi after meeting at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Office here.
Qureshi told a joint press conference that the working group meeting would be conducted from 13 to 14 of December in Jakarta.
"Both countries ...are fighting terrorism, trying to divest extremism. We agreed that we need to cooperate on this front closely," he told a joint press conference.
"We have a common vision on that, we want to send message to the world what does the Islam stand for," said Qureshi.
Indonesian Foreign Mnister Marty Natalegawa said that the counter-terrorism cooperation would include exchanges of intelligence and information, and stepping up capacity building.
Both Muslim majority countries, Indonesia and Pakistan have started cooperation on counter-terrorism since 2003, he said. They have been hit by terrorism.
Indonesia has boosted steps to crack down militants as their movements have grown recently, with more recruits, new modified plots, targets and the way of financing. One of the focus would be put on de-radicalization.
Indonesia has suffered from a series of terrorist attacks since 2000, including bombings at churches, suicide bombings in night clubs in Bali and the recent twin luxurious hotels in Jakarta [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], killing over 270 people.
The country has cracked down the militant network across the nation, scores of militant top figures have been captured or shot dead [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], dozens of terrorist suspects have also been detained and brought to justice.
After the ministers meeting [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it was signed an agreement on visa exemption for those holding passport of diplomat and other diplomatic mission.
It was also discussed how to boost trade and investment of the two countries.
Qureshi said that the negotiators from Indonesia and Pakistan had kept carrying out talks on planned free-trade between the two countries.
Diplomatic ties of Indonesia and Pakistan started in 1950.