The two-plus-two meeting will see the first French-Indonesian ministerial-level “political and military consultations”, according to a statement from the French foreign ministry, and will seek to strengthen the two countries’ military cooperation in achieving “shared ambitions”.

Indonesia and France were among the several countries blindsided by the announcement of the Australia-United States-United Kingdom (AUKUS) defense partnership last year, which saw Washington give Canberra the technology for its state-of-the-art nuclear-powered submarines.

France had an existing deal to supply its submarine technology to Australia, but the latter backed out suddenly in favor of procuring the vessels from the US and the UK. Indonesia, meanwhile, is concerned about the lack of prior consultation on contentious technology that could jeopardize national security if deployed in familiar waters.

It now seems that the AUKUS deal has pushed the two sides to work together, observers have noted.

“Bonjour, Paris. I have arrived and will engage in a number of bilateral meetings with our partners in France. [I will] meet my French counterpart [and] engage in a two-plus-two dialogue with the defense minister, Pak Prabowo,” Retno wrote on her official Instagram account on Thursday.

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