Pence begins Indonesia visit focused on trade, security

Jakarta April 20 (IANS) US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday arrived in Indonesia on a two-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral trade regional security and the fight against terror.

Pence is scheduled to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo before holding talks on bilateral relations with his counterpart Jusuf Kalia Efe news reported.

Pence is expected to largely discuss trade with his counterpart as he did in Japan the previous stopover of his Asia-Pacific tour which will conclude on Saturday in Australia.

He is also expected to discuss the dispute over the South China Sea.

After the meetings Pence is scheduled to visit the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta which is the biggest mosque in the country with largest Muslim population in the world and participate in inter-faith talks with several religious leaders.

He will also meet the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) based in Jakarta which is celebrating 40 years of relations with the US.

Pence s visit to Indonesia will conclude on Friday with a meeting with businessmen and the signing of several agreements for collaboration in the energy and information technology sectors.

--IANS
ksk/vm