Jakarta – A US envoy said that ongoing reform in Indonesia's powerful armed forces (TNI) was on the right path and the United States wanted to provide more support for the changes ahead.

Washington has been "very satisfied with the approach of the TNI toward reform", despite past strains between the two nations, said Christopher Hill, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

"We're confident that the Indonesian military is continuing on its reform path and we want to assist in this process," Hill told a press briefing in Jakarta.

Indonesia – the world's largest Islamic nation – and the United States resumed full military ties in November. They were severed over human rights allegations against the military in 1991 when Jakarta's forces launched a bloody crackdown on pro-independence protesters in East Timor.

Critics have blasted the resumption, saying that Indonesia's military has not yet taken full responsibility for its past rights abuses, particularly in East Timor before and in the run-up to its independence in 1999.

"Of course not everyone agrees with this... but I can assure you that the US government believes this is the right approach and this is what we are doing," Hill said.

Washington in January donated 11 million dollars worth of medical equipment – equal to a full-scale US military hospital – to be used as a fleet hospital by the Indonesian navy, in the first exchange since the ban was lifted.

"We're convinced that the Indonesian government and the Indonesian military in particular have moved quite clearly on the path of reform and we want to support it," the assistant secretary of state added.

Indonesia began reforming its military in 1998 after its autocratic former president Suharto stepped down.

Hill, who held talks on bilateral, regional and international matters with three Indonesian ministers earlier Friday, also said US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was expected to visit Indonesia on March 14.