RI, Malaysian defense ministers do not touch on arms race

"There have been no talks about reducing an arms race, because there is no arms race. What they talked about is effots at modernizing their military arms. And this is the right of any sovereign country," Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said here on Friday.

He made the remark in a joint press conference in Kuala Lumpur flanked by his Indonesian counterpart Juwono Sudarsono who was rather reluctant to comment on whether there is an arms race between the two countries, and among the other nations in the ASEAN region.

According to Najib, the two countries agreed to continue their cooperation in securing their border area and the Malacca Strait from criminals and terrorists.

The cooperation in a joint patrol will be constantly improved. "Our joint patrol and cooperation for the last 36 years have their positive results," said Najib who is also Malaysia`s Deputy Prime Minister.