Indonesia has branded calls to cut U.S. aid to the country's military as superficial because they only represent the interests of a few human rights groups, local press said Tuesday.

Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the human rights groups and U.S. congresswoman who proposed the aid cut havenot taken into account recent reform progress made by the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"We are not concerned because so far only one congresswoman has proposed an aid cut, and her case is based on input from non-governmental organizations which for the last eight years have been antagonistic toward the TNI," he was quoted by English daily The Jakarta Post as saying.

He said Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First and the East Timor Alliance Network (ETAN) were groups to have constantly criticized Indonesia's human rights record.

Juwono said he clarified relevant issues with U.S. lawmakers and organizations when he visited the U.S. in April.

"I explained that the TNI is not the same as before, and that we have made progress in the area of reform. However, it seems they did not listen," Juwono said.

The U.S. Congress began to discuss last week a proposal from Democratic Party Congresswoman Nita Lowey, the head of the powerful Appropriations Sub-committee, to cut 25 percent of military aid to Indonesia over alleged violations of human rights, the newspaper said.