Two US Senators Meet With MPR Leadership

Jakarta (Antara) - US Senators John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse held a meeting with the leadership of Indonesia's People Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the parliament building here on Monday. The MPR leadership attending the meeting that lasted for about one hour were chairman Sidarto Danusubroto, deputy chairpersons Melani Leimena Suharli, Hajrianto Y Thohari, Farham Hamid, and Dimyati Natakusumah. Sidarto said they had discussed various issues, including the recent presidential election in the country and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). "The US senators have expressed their hope for Indonesia's future," he noted. They also expressed appreciation in the implementation of the July 9 presidential election, which they had considered successful, he added. "The US senators had expressed their admiration to the development of democracy in Indonesia as the world's largest Muslim country," he pointed out. Sidarto noted that the US senators hoped the relations between Indonesia and the United States will keep improving, especially in the fields of defense, economy, social, among others. Regarding the ISIS issue, he said the US senators had asked Indonesia to be vigilant. "At the meeting, I affirmed that Indonesia had declared ISIS as an illegal movement," he stated. (*)