Indonesia, Australia Discuss Handling of Online Radicalization, Terrorism

The Indonesian and Australian governments have agreed on and planned a technical cooperation on the handling of terrorism issues in the countries, such as online radicalization and terrorism financing.

In a bilateral consultation meeting, Indonesia’s National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) discussed a number of security and terrorism issues at bilateral, regional, and international levels as well as exchanging information and intelligence.

“The meeting sought to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism by prioritizing dialogue mechanism as agreed on memorandum of understanding,” chief of BNPT Boy Rafli Amar said on Wednesday, April 13, as reported by Antara.

He added that Australia takes a rather similar approach to Indonesia in its national policy against terrorism. The points are said to underline the same issues as stated in Indonesia’s national action plan on the handling of violence-based extremism.

The two countries agreed to develop and technical cooperation on online radicalization and terrorism financing issues as well issues about women, children, and youth.

At a grander scope, the meeting also saw discussion on security threats at regional and global levels, and state officials agreed on strengthening the bilateral ties between Indonesia and Australia, including through the existing Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice 2 (AIPJ2), which is a partnership between the Indonesian and Australian governments “to strengthen Indonesia's justice and security institutions and contribute to the stability and prosperity of Indonesia and the region.”