We call on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to pay more attention to enhancing a stable bilateral relationship with Japan, currently one of Indonesia’s most important investment and trading partners and once the country’s biggest lender. Like many other countries in the region, if not the world, Indonesia is becoming more dependent on China, the world’s second-most-powerful economy that will likely take over the United States’ long-held leadership sooner or later.

A stronger personal trust between President Jokowi and Prime Minister Kishida will be crucial to boosting economic and political ties between Jakarta and Tokyo. In years to come, Japan is expected to remain stable, as the Oct. 31 election result evinced.

The LDP raked in 261 seats in the 465-member Lower House, which is more powerful than the Upper House that will only hold its election next summer. Together with its junior coalition partner, Komeito, PM Kishida now is in control of the Diet.

Without revising Japan’s pacific constitution, it will also be easier for the former foreign minister to implement the LDP’s plan to drastically increase Japan’s defense budget from 1 to 2 percent of gross domestic product. The main reasons for the ambitious defense scenario are the rising tension with more assertive neighbor China, including on the Taiwan issue, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s insistence on resuming its powerful ballistic missile tests.

China and South Korea are widely expected to lash out at the defense budget rise for fears of Japan’s revival of military power. The reason for such concern is completely understandable knowing that the two countries endured Japan’s military occupation in the past. However, it is also more unrealistic to demand that Japan maintain the military spending status quo, while its neighbors in the North-East Asian region display their penchant for military buildup.

In this regard, PM Kishida will likely carry on the programs of his two predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga, on the Quad’s military cooperation with the US, India and Australia. Japan will surely step up its presence and role in the Indo-Pacific.

Indonesia has repeatedly expressed its concern over the rivalry among global military powers in the Southeast Asian region, although at the same time looks supportive of the new trend that will counterbalance China’s dominance.

Considering the key role Japan plays, President Jokowi should give the country more opportunities to participate in his ambitious infrastructure plan, including railways and seaports. The Jakarta MRT and the Patimbang seaport in West Java are two strong shreds of evidence on Japan’s superior technology and more acceptable financing scheme in the long term.

President Jokowi needs to remember his decision to give the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project to China has left a scar for many Japanese people. In the meantime, Japan also needs to readjust its strict government-to-government principle in bilateral cooperation, especially in financing terms.

President Jokowi cannot take Japan for granted or overlook its capacity and willingness to work with Indonesia.