G20: MP Urges Indonesia To Remain Alert To Security Threats

G20: MP Urges Indonesia To Remain Alert To Security Threats.

Jakarta - A member of parliament urged the Indonesian government to maintain constant vigil to all forms of security threats despite its all-out efforts to secure and safeguard Bali's two-day G20 Summit that commences on Tuesday.

"I appeal (to the government) to continue intensifying security measures to (prevent) those looking to disrupt the G20 Leaders' Summit from going ahead with their unlawful plans," Christina Aryani stated here, Monday.

Aryani, a member of the House of Representatives' (DPR's) Commission I that oversees security and foreign affairs, said she remains optimistic about Indonesia's readiness for safeguarding and securing the summit.

With the G20 Summit taking place in Nusa Dua, Bali Island, on November 15-16, Indonesia's reputation and credibility are at stake, so any form of security disturbance must be wiped out, she remarked.

"Considering the attention that Mr President, chiefs of the Indonesian Defence Forces and National Police, as well as other state officials have paid to this G20 Summit, we must appreciate the government's hard work," she affirmed.

Meanwhile, several G20 leaders, including US President Joseph R. Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, had arrived in Indonesia's resort island of Bali to attend the summit.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan confirmed that preparations were 100-percent complete for the summit.

While visiting the Bali Police Command Centre on November 10, the coordinating minister said that security arrangements had been finalized by the military and police, and advanced technologies would be applied to maintain security at the G20 Summit.

"I see that the police and military become the ones to secure the G20 Summit. While bolstering their professionalism, the police have also utilized newer technologies that could be linked with the military," he noted.

At the Command Centre, he assessed that the deployed police and military officers as well as non-uniformed security officers are ready to conduct their duties at their respective posts.

Formed in 1999, the Group of Twenty (G20) currently has 20 members: the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Italy, France, Russia, and the European Union.

In connection with Biden's participation in the summit, according to a press statement issued recently by the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden would be in Bali until Nov 16.

"In Bali, the president will commend President Widodo's leadership of the G20," she noted in her statement on Biden's travel plans to North Africa and Asia that was released by the White House on October 28.

At the G20 Summit, Biden will highlight the US commitment to the premier forum for economic cooperation whose members represent over 80 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), she remarked.

"He will work with G20 partners to address key challenges, such as climate change, the global impact of Putin's war on Ukraine, including on energy and food security and affordability, and a range of other priorities important to the global economic recovery," she added. (INE)

Pewarta : Rahmad Nasution/Antara

Editor : Yakop