President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo congratulated the Philippines for its upcoming ASEAN chairmanship in 2017, expecting that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership would set the regional bloc’s future path.

Jokowi also said he hoped Indonesia and the Philippines would enhance their economic co-operation.

“Amid the global economic slowdown, our trade values have continued to increase. This situation shows that your visit has taken place at the right moment. This visit will give us a new spirit to improve efforts to strengthen co-operation between our two countries,” Jokowi said after a meeting with President Duterte at the State Palace during the latter’s inaugural visit to Jakarta on Friday.

In the meeting, Duterte highlighted a joint maritime security operation initiated to deal with rampant vessel hijacking, which had hampered coal shipments to power plants in the Philippines.

Nine Indonesian sailors are still being held captive by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines.

“I am very sorry that the shipment of coal needed by power plants in my country has been hampered by piracy in the region. Piracy is an international crime,” Duterte said.

President Jokowi welcomed Duterte in an official ceremony at the State Palace at 4 p.m.This was the first state visit Duterte has undertaken since his inauguration in June. After the ceremony, both leaders had discussions that ended with a joint press statement.

Prior to the meeting, Jokowi took Duterte to Pasar Tanah Abang, Southeast Asia’s largest textile market in Central Jakarta, for a blusukan (impromptu visit). During the visit, Jokowi showed his Philippine counterpart examples of how Indonesia managed social issues.

Forging a meaningful peace process in the predominantly Muslim deep South was a key agenda item during a meeting between visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday.

The leaders expressed doubts, however, over MARA Patani’s claim to represent the various militant groups and a claim by Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) to have been behind recent high-profile attacks.

Combating terrorism, the trafficking in persons and goods as well as other border-security arrangements – including a plan to build a fence along the Thai-Malaysian border – were also on the agenda of the two premiers, according to a Thai government statement.

Thailand urged Malaysia to facilitate the dialogue between the government’s delegation, led by General Aksara Kerdpol, and MARA Patani, which claims to be the umbrella organisation of insurgents in the southernmost provinces of the Kingdom.

The previous discussion between the general and MARA Patani in Kuala Lumpur on September 2 yielded no concrete results, although they said they could reach common ground on the terms of reference for a peace process.

Peace talks are aimed at ending the violence in the deep South, which has killed more than 6,500 people since early 2004. The two government leaders reacted with caution on MARA Patani’s claim to be able to control militants on the ground.

BRN said it had been involved in a number of violent incidents last week, including the bombing that derailed a train in Pattani province and a bomb blast in front of a school in Narathiwat, which killed many people, including a five-year-old girl.

MARA Patani issued a statement on Thursday condemning the violence and insisted its position was to solve the conflict with peaceful means.

While BRN said it had orchestrated the recent violence in the deep South to show its disapproval of the ongoing talks about a peace process and reject the safety-zone initiative, Thai authorities said over the past few days that they did not believe the organisation’s claim.

Local media reported that BRN was also involved in bomb and arson attacks in seven provinces in the predominantly Buddhist upper South of Thailand before and on Mothers’ Day last month.

Army chief General Teerachai Nakwanich yesterday said the August 11-12 attacks in seven tourist towns, including Phuket and Samui, were not linked to the deep South separatist group BRN.

He urged people not to get confused because the police probe into those attacks had made much progress, and everything pointed to various groups in the area benefiting from the incidents.

He said Army chief adviser General Aksara had discussed the matter with separatists at a recent session with MARA Patani and learned that they were not behind the attacks.

Teerachai yesterday visited the southern border province of Pattani, where he attended a meeting at the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Forward Command to provide a policy briefing to security officers.

He was also briefed about progress in investigations into recent significant attacks, including a Pattani hotel car bomb that killed one person and injured 40 others, and the railway bombing in the same province that killed one railway official and wounded three others.

Teerachai was also briefed on measures to provide security to the public during the Hari Raya Festival on September 12.

Meanwhile, Yala’s Betong border checkpoint was yesterday crowded with Thai Muslim holidaymakers who returned from working in Malaysia to celebrate Hari Raya with relatives in the deep South.

Betong immigration inspector Pol Major Sukree Pladsama increased manpower for passport-checking counters from the normal level and opened more lanes for incoming cars in order to accommodate the higher volume of travellers.

BEIJING – China’s military wants to strengthen ties with neighbouring Myanmar by having more exchanges and greater cooperation, a top officer told Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to the Southeast Asian country, state media said on Saturday.

China has been on a diplomatic offensive ever since the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s government came to power in April, aiming to forge good ties with its resource-rich neighbour.

Last month Suu Kyi visited China, where President Xi Jinping told her he wanted to ensure the “correct direction” of relations.

Xu Qiliang, a vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, which controls the armed forces and is headed by Xi, told Suu Kyi that China “highly values the friendly cooperation between the two countries”, state news agency Xinhua said.

“China firmly upholds a friendly policy towards Myanmar and supports Myanmar’s national reconciliation process,” Xu said during Friday’s meeting in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar.

“Xu mentioned Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent trip to China, during which she reached consensus with the Chinese leadership on further enhancing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Myanmar,” it added.

China will keep playing a constructive role in pushing forward Myanmar’s peace process and hopes the two countries can work together to maintain peace and stability on their border, Xu said.

Suu Kyi last month launched a major push to end decades of fighting between the military and myriad rebel groups, which has at times spilled into China and seen refugees pushed across the border, to Beijing’s anger.

Enhancing friendship, mutual understanding and trust is very important for both nations, Suu Kyi said, according to Xinhua, and thanked China for its role in Myanmar’s peace process.

China had a close relationship with Myanmar’s former military-run government, and has looked on with some nervousness at its democratisation process.

China has been pushing Myanmar to resume work on the Chinese-invested $3.6-billion Myitsone dam project, 90 percent of whose power was originally planned to have gone to China.

In 2011, then President Thein Sein angered China when he suspended work on the dam, at the confluence of two northern rivers in the Ayeyarwady river basin, over environmental protests.