Sudan’s army confirmed its agreement to conduct joint military exercises with the South Sudan Army and to work on completing outstanding security files between the two countries. Both states are working towards implementing joint Juba-Khartoum cooperation agreements before the end of 2018. For his part, Sudanese Army chief Lieutenant General Kamal Abdel Marouf said the talks with his South Sudan counterpart General Gabriel Jok Riak in Khartoum on Tuesday were fruitful and discussed areas of joint training and the formation of joint forces. They also discussed cooperation in the fields of joint training and the formation of joint forces. The two reiterated efforts being organized and spent on enforcing solutions for all outstanding issues between the two countries. An agreement was arrived at for the "implementation of joint cooperation agreements between the two countries, said Sudanese army spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad Khalifa Al-Sham said in a Khartoum presser. Good cooperation between Sudan and South Sudan armies is the key to a strong relationship between the two countries. The visiting South Sudanese army chief of staff Gen. Riak discussed the implementation of the security arrangement following a recent agreement to launch the operationalization of the buffer zone between the two countries last September in Addis Ababa. According to a statement, Gen. Riak said the Sudanese efforts to narrow the gaps between the South Sudanese parties in the IGAD-led peace process has encouraged Juba to go ahead in the implementation of the security arrangements and to strengthen relations with Khartoum. Talks focused on developing bilateral relations between the two countries and the building of good ties between armed forces in both countries as a gateway settling other files of common interest. Meanwhile, the meeting scheduled to be held in Khartoum to bring together officials from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-country trade bloc in Africa, was postponed until further notice. Sudan and South Sudan agreed in September 2012 to establish a demilitarized zone on the disputed and non-delimited border to prevent cross-border attacks by paramilitary groups from both sides.