Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (right) receiving a gift from the Indonesia Defence Minister Lieutenant General TNI (Purn) Dr Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. - BB
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Tuesday (April 15) received in audience Indonesian Defence Minister Lieutenant General TNI (Purn) Dr Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at Istana Nurul Iman.
Accompanying the minister were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Brunei Professor Dr Achmad Ubaedillah, and senior officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence.
Brunei and Indonesia have fostered close and cordial bilateral relations, underpinned by more than four decades of strong diplomatic engagement.
One of the significant milestones in these relations was the establishment of defence cooperation, formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation on April 10, 2003.
Both countries have continued to enhance their bilateral military relations through various forms of cooperation, including exchanges in high-level visits, Joint Defence Working Committee (JDWC) and Brunesia High Level Committee meetings, joint military exercises, exchanges of course programmes, and actively participates in multilateral cooperation such as the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
This marks the first visit to Brunei by Lieutenant General TNI (Purn) Dr Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin since his appointment as Defence Minister on Oct 21, 2024. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
