Macron's trip to Indonesia is the second stop of a three-nation, six-day tour of Southeast Asia that began with Vietnam and concludes in Singapore.

"I am delighted that the letter of intent signed today could open up a new perspective with new orders for Rafales, Scorpenes, light frigates," Macron said at a joint press conference alongside President Prabowo Subianto. 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will try to convince Asian defense leaders this weekend that the United States is a more trusted partner for the region than China, US officials told Reuters, as questions linger about the Trump administration's commitment to the region.

The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance.

Indonesia is the second leg of Macron's regional trip after Vietnam, where the two countries signed deals worth over $10 billion. He is scheduled to fly to Singapore on Thursday.

President Prabowo Subianto’s pitch to include Papua New Guinea as an ASEAN member during his debut appearance at the regional talks was likely inspired by Jakarta’s national interests and was less about elevating the group’s strength, analysts have suggested.

The trade-dependent economies are looking to insulate themselves after US President Donald Trump blew up global trade norms by announcing a slew of tariffs targeting countries around the world this year.

The Elysee had been hoping that the visit to Vietnam would showcase France's reach into the Indo-Pacific, but it has been shadowed by the incident which occurred as the doors of the presidential plane swung open after landing in Hanoi Sunday.

Having PNG, which is Indonesia’s “close neighbor", in the bloc could help make ASEAN stronger, thus raising the bloc’s position in the global constellation, President Prabowo Subianto has said.

China and ASEAN are already each other's largest trading partners, and Chinese exports to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam surged by double digits in April -- attributed to a re-routing of US-bound goods.

ASEAN must rise stronger or risk being disrespected by larger powers, President Prabowo Subianto said during his debut appearance at the group’s summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, calling on the bloc to be more forward-looking and adaptive as it faces internal and external pressures.

The South China Sea, a conduit for about $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, remains a source of tension between China and US ally the Philippines, with ties at their worst in years amid frequent standoffs that have sparked regional concerns they could spiral into conflict.

Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron's plane door opening to reveal him.

Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship has piqued interest and built up expectations of tangible outcomes, especially in longstanding issues such as overlapping claims in the South China Sea among ASEAN member states and Beijing, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

The French president arrived in Hanoi late Sunday, the first stop of a six-day trip that will also take in Indonesia and Singapore.

Prabowo is in Kuala Lumpur to attend the first ASEAN summit of his presidency, during which he is also expected to attend the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will also tackle pressing regional issues, attempting to increase pressure on Myanmar's military junta and iron out remaining issues with Timor Leste's application to join the bloc.

Timor-Leste is a step closer to fulfilling its longstanding wish to join the Southeast Asian regional bloc and could become its 11th member state by October, Malaysia's foreign minister said on Sunday.

Indonesia reiterated the need for a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar during an extended troika meeting on the conflict-stricken Southeast Asian country, amid a series of ministerial meetings ahead of the upcoming ASEAN summit on Monday.

Indonesia and China have agreed to strengthen their ties after President Prabowo Subianto held a meeting with China’s Premier Li Qiang that culminated in the signing of a dozen partnership agreements and marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned on Sunday that the rise of "unilateralism and protectionism" could threaten the global economic and trade order, as he  reaffirmed Beijing's ties with Jakarta on Sunday during his visit to Indonesia ahead of a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's foreign minister on Sunday condemned "atrocities" in Gaza, saying they reflected "indifference and double standards" on the plight of the Palestinian people.

Helicopters were being used on Sunday to drop animal feed to farmers in Australia's New South Wales state stranded by floods that have killed five and isolated tens of thousands in the country's southeast.

China's Premier Li Qiang said on Saturday that China and Indonesia will promote "true multilateralism", the official Xinhua news agency reported, as he landed in Jakarta on a two-day visit to Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, took over as interim head of the South Asian nation of 173 million last August after a student-led uprising forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India.

Trump's tariffs has roiled global markets and upended international commerce, and left leaders from the 10-member ASEAN bloc scrambling for ways to limit the fallout on their trade-dependent economies.

The Foreign Ministry has asserted that Indonesia, under the presidency of Prabowo Subianto, has not lost its interest in maintaining the centrality and unity of the regional bloc and will actively participate in negotiations on key issues.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing flew into the Thai capital Bangkok for a closed-door meeting with Anwar last month and, a day later, the Malaysian leader held online talks with the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

The first trip to Vietnam by a French president in nearly a decade is part of a larger tour of Southeast Asia. Macron is set to arrive in Hanoi on May 25, move to Indonesia on May 27 and finish in Singapore, where he will speak at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top defence conference, starting on May 30.

President Prabowo Subianto’s recent visits to Southeast Asian neighbors have yet to dispel concerns over his lack of engagement with ASEAN as an institution, analysts say, warning that Indonesia risks drifting from its historic leadership role in the region in favor of bilateral diplomacy.