Indonesia evaluating purchase of Indian Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

The Indonesian army is weighing purchase of the Indian designed and built Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, ands is also in talks for sourcing spare parts from the country, according to Lt Gen (retd) Andi M Ghalib, the Indonesian ambassador to India.

"We are talking about purchasing the ALH from India and are in discussions about sourcing spares for our weapon systems from here. Also, Indian naval ships have been paying goodwill visits to Indonesian ports." Ghalib told media sources here.

Embassy officials reiterated that the strategic and defence partnership between India and Indonesia had received impetus from two different commitments-that emanating from an improved bilateral relationship as well as from India's commitment to a strategic engagement with ASEAN, which was growing by the day.

They also said that India had been supplying defence equipment, especially for the Indonesian navy, and the two countries were exploring other areas for defence cooperation.

Apart from defence, the two countries were also engaged bilaterally in addressing non-traditional security challenges facing the region, such as terrorism, maritime piracy and so on.

India and Indonesia signed a bilateral agreement on cooperative activities in the field of defence in 2001.