Indonesia and Hawaii would establish military cooperation under a close coordination with the United States Pacific Command in Hawaii, Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono and visiting Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle said Monday.

They told at a joint press conference at the Indonesia defense ministry office here after a meeting that the focus of the military cooperation is on the maintenance of non-lethal military equipment and also on how to deal with natural disasters.

"We should build up cooperation between the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) and the Hawaiian National Guard to beef up professionalism at the level of soldiers and low-ranking officers on maintenance of military equipment, such as helicopters and other equipment made by the United States," Juwono said.

"In the coming months, scores of our soldiers will be sent to Hawaii to get trainings of the maintenance which could boost the capacity of troops," he added.

Most of Indonesian military equipment are produced by the United States.

The minister also said that Indonesia and Hawaii agreed to cooperate on preparation of natural disasters which have frequently hit both sides.

Juwono said that Indonesia, which was hit by the tsunami in December 2004 in Aceh province, would share its experience on handling the disaster.

Over 170,000 people were killed and half a million others were made homeless after the tsunami triggered by powerful quake that devastated the province.

"This is an important step which could further strengthening the strong bilateral defense relationship between the United States and Indonesia," Hawaii governor Lingle said.

She said both sides could share experience in disaster management and in areas such as education and health care.

The United States embargoed arms export to Indonesia due to its poor reputation on human rights record in Timor-Leste in 1999, but it was lifted recently for Indonesia's achievement on combating terrorism.

Source: Xinhua