India, Indonesia strengthen bilateral ties, ink six MoUs

JAKARTA: India and Indonesia today strengthened bilateral cooperation by inking six pacts in diverse areas, ranging from health and disaster management to combating illicit trafficking of drugs.

The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the first bilateral visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Indonesia, where he arrived yesterday.

An MoU has been inked to promote and develop co-operation in the field of health and medicine. This would cover areas of maternal and child health, nursing, traditional medicine, communicable and non-communicable diseases, health technology information, research and development, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and IT-based medical equipment.

Another pact is to facilitate and enhance co-operation in combating illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors through exchange of information, collaboration, assistance in investigations including in money laundering.

The two nations also signed an MoU to co-operate in the area of disaster management through exchange of information, training and capacity building.

India and Indonesia signed pacts for co-operation in the area of training of public officials and capacity building, also strengthening collaboration by way of sharing and exchange of studies.

The two countries inked an MoU for collaborative institutional relations through facilitation of dialogue involving eminent persons from various fields including culture, economy, trade, education, social sciences, communications and the media.