Indonesia confers highest military awards on Sandila

Government of the Republic of Indonesia has conferred the highest Military Awards of "Bintang Jalasena Utama and Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama" to Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila, Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy, in recognition of his meritorious services and significant contribution in strengthening the ties between the Naval forces of Indonesia and Pakistan.
Ambassador of Indonesia Burhan Muhammad presented the distinguished awards to Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila on behalf of the President of Indonesia in an impressive investiture ceremony held here on Wednesday. Civil and military high ranking officials, diplomats and notables from the civic society were present at the ceremony. Indonesian Ambassador said the first award is 'Bintang Jalasena Utama', which is conferred by Indonesian President to the navy chiefs for establishing strong relations with Indonesian Navy. The second award 'Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama' is for the military officials in acknowledgement of their efforts for enhancing the bilateral defence ties with the Indonesian government.
The Envoy said those two awards had been conferred on Sandila by the Indonesian government at the same time. Previously, the highest Indonesian civil award of "Adipurna' had been conferred on Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1997 in appreciation of his services for strengthening fraternal relationship between the two countries. Ambassador Burhan extended his warmest congratulations to Asif Sandila on receiving both these exclusive medals of honour and highly appreciated his admirable role in further enhancing the co-operative defence ties between the naval forces of the two countries.
Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila thanked the Almighty God for having bestowed him with such honour and express gratitude to the Government of Indonesia for having acknowledged his contribution in strengthening the military ties between the two countries and especially in the naval domain. Sandila said he considered the award not only for himself but also for the Navy and Pakistan.-PR