On a visit to Indonesia on Friday, June 13, 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia Mr Kevin Rudd met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The two of them discussed the environment, apart from also taking up the issue of further enhancement of security cooperation that has helped better ties with Canberra's populous developing neighbor. Rudd later informed the media that they have inked a contract for tackling greenhouse gas emissions accruing from deforestation. Kevin Rudd, upon his arrival in Indonesia, was welcomed with a thunderous gun salute and thereafter inspected the red-coated presidential guard.

 

Speaking about the contract the two governments have signed, Rudd remarked ‘this is important for the future’. In December, Indonesia held a UN climate change conference and has also emerged as the key force behind calls of developed nations to compensate poor states that preserve their rainforests to soak up greenhouse gases. Kevin Rudd, on the other hand, has been endeavoring to better the green credentials of Australia after ratifying the Kyoto climate pact. The Australian PM further divulged that he has talked about security cooperation within the framework of the Lombok Treaty, which is a defence pact agreed in 2006 between the two countries on the Indonesian island of Lombok. He, however, did spill the details on this issue.