Hawai'i National Guard soldiers will participate in a military exercise in Indonesia in April, the Southeast Asian nation will take part in a hurricane exercise here in March, and Indonesian noncommissioned and junior officers may train at Hawai'i National Guard facilities.

The military-to-military engagement is part of Hawai'i's emerging relationship with the world's largest Muslim country, and stems from the National Guard Bureau's efforts to link U.S. states with foreign countries.

Only four of the National Guard Bureau's 58 state partnership programs are in the Pacific, but that number is expected to grow, Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard, said yesterday.

Speaking at the end of a two-day workshop in Hawai'i, Blum said a new partnership had been established between Bangladesh and Oregon, and he expects as many as five new partner nations in the next two years.

"The partnerships in the Pacific may be, in the long term, the most important that we have," Blum said, citing the region's increasing importance to global issues and economies.

Blum made his comments at the inaugural Pacific state partnership workshop, held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

The National Guard state adjutant generals from Hawai'i, Alaska and Washington state held a news conference with defense chiefs from Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and the Philippines.

Hawai'i established the relationship with Indonesia last year, and in June Gov. Linda Lingle traveled to Jakarta. Hawai'i and Guam also have partnerships with the Philippines.

Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, who heads the Hawai'i National Guard, yesterday said his soldiers will again participate in the Indonesian exercise Garuda Shield in April.

That will be followed by Indonesian military and civilian personnel traveling to Hawai'i in March for an annual hurricane exercise. Both exchanges will involve "small numbers" of personnel, he said.

Lee also said Brig. Gen. Erwin Barley, the Indonesian defense attache to the U.S., wanted non-commissioned and junior officers to train at the Guard's "warrior training center," and that the U.S. Pacific Command authorized the exchange.

About 80 U.S. soldiers, including some Hawai'i Guard soldiers, flew to Indonesia last April for Garuda Shield in a resumption of brigade-level, army-to-army training.

U.S. military ties with Indonesia were cut by the Clinton administration in 1999 over human rights concerns. The Bush administration restored full military relations with Indonesia in 2005.

The state partnership program was started in the early 1990s.

Blum said National Guard troops are effective because "they bring not only very, very fine military skills to the partnership, but each and every one of these citizen soldiers brings in civilian experience, civilian-acquired skills ... and the ability to interact with other people."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.