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Indonesia, Australia to elevate defense, security ties in Indo-Pacific push
Foreign and defense ministers of Indonesia and Australia met for their first in-person meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to deepen their security links amid an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific environment.
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(From right to left:) Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton attend a joint press statement following their two-plus-two meeting at the Foreign Ministry complex in Jakarta, on Sept. 9, 2021. (REUTERS/Indonesian Foreign Ministry)
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ndonesia and Australia announced on Thursday that they would expand military cooperation, including in education exchanges, and also bolster counterterror cooperation, as the two nations seek to deepen their security links amid an increasingly challenging Indo-Pacific environment.
Foreign and defense ministers of the two countries met for their first in-person meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid increased security risks brought about by the flaring conflict in Myanmar and contentious developments in Afghanistan.
Indonesia was the first leg of a four-country Indo-Pacific tour by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defense Minister Peter Dutton, who are due to visit India, South Korea and the United States after concluding their two-plus-two talks in Jakarta.
In a joint statement after the meeting, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said he and his Australian counterpart had renewed a defense cooperation arrangement (DCA) that would serve as the basis for the partners’ comprehensive defense framework. The DCA was first signed in 2012.
Under this new framework, Canberra has agreed to provide more opportunities for Indonesian Military (TNI) servicemen to train together on Australian soil, including a plan to allow TNI cadets to join the Australian Defense Forces (ADF) Academy and the Royal Military College at Duntroon, which Prabowo lauded as a “historic first”.
“It will be the first time in the history of the relations between Indonesia and Australia that we will send our young boys and girls to train and be educated in Australian military academies. So, this is a very historic moment,” he said at the joint press statement.
Dutton himself said that he looked forward to “hosting cadets [...] studying in Australia's defense education facilities, building relationships among future leaders on both sides”.
