Indonesia and Australia held high-level talks in the former’s capital Jakarta on Friday as the two neighbors seek to strengthen security ties by signing a defense cooperation agreement in the coming months.
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, set to become Indonesia’s next president, said he and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles discussed ways to maintain and enhance their countries’ good relationship.
Prabowo also said Indonesia and Australia hoped to sign a “very significant” defense cooperation agreement within two or three months. Details about the deal were not provided.
Marles described the planned pact as “the single deepest and most significant defense cooperation agreement” in the history of the two countries.
“It will be a very significant moment in our bilateral relationship,” Marles said during a joint news conference with Prabowo. “Australia and Indonesia have a shared destiny and a shared collective security, and that is the basis on which we are moving forward with our own defense planning.”