The two ministers announced that Indonesia and France had just signed on a continuation of Indonesia and France’s strategic partnership, now extended until 2027.

“We have agreed to intensify communications [between the two countries] especially next year, since Indonesia will hold the G20 presidency, while France will hold the EU council presidency in the first half of 2022,” Retno said in a news conference after the meeting on Wednesday, referring to the Group of 20 and European Union, respectively.

Part of the plan for heightened communications, Retno said, was to hold a maritime dialogue on the Indo-Pacific situation in the near future.

Indonesia and France also agreed to bolster defense cooperation after Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his French counterpart signed a defense cooperation agreement (DCA) in June. This covers cooperation in training and education, defense industry development, science and defense technology, intelligence cooperation and counterterrorism, as well as collaboration in peacekeeping operations and humanitarian missions during disasters.

“We discussed how we are going to increase our bilateral cooperation by also involving the defense aspect, and we have agreed to start a ‘two-plus-two meeting’ [between foreign ministers and defense ministers] starting next year,” Retno said.

Read also: Indo-Pacific a priority for France's EU presidency, Le Drian says

Le Drian, meanwhile, said that “the heart” of Indonesia and France’s maritime and security commitment was to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is based on the rule of law.

“Together with all 27 European partners, we designed together the first cooperation strategy for the Indo-Pacific, that will be the heart of our priorities when we take over the presidency of the EU next year,” Le Drian told the news conference through an interpreter.

Le Drian's visit to Indonesia, as reported by Reuters, is part of France’s larger effort to cement deeper ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, as a result of France’s snub from a trilateral alliance signed by Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, dubbed the AUKUS pact, in September.

Paris previously accused its allies of stabbing it in the back when Australia opted for nuclear- powered submarines to be built with US and British technology instead of a multi-billion dollar French submarine program, Reuters reported.

France’s partnership with Australia dating back to 2016 was considered the cornerstone of its Indo-Pacific policy and since losing that deal, Paris has been on the offensive to strengthen its ties in the region. Aside from cementing ties with Indonesia, France has also held high-level meetings with Japan, India and Vietnam.

Read also: In the wake of AUKUS tension, France turns to Indonesia, eyes Rafale jet sale

Aside from bilateral cooperation, Retno and Le Drian on Wednesday also discussed Indonesia’s growing multilateral ties on the global stage, which included the Alliance for Multilateralism, previously launched by the French and German foreign ministries, as well as the Foreign Policy and Global Health Initiative.

Retno said that France would be investing 500 million euros (US$562.10 million) to help fulfill Indonesia’s energy-transition projects, which, according to her, would be one of the country’s top priorities for its G20 presidency.

“Energy transition is no longer an option, but a necessity. Therefore, collaboration -- such as through investment and technology transfer -- is needed to support this transition,” Retno said, without providing details on the investment.

Indonesia, she added, is also set to receive an additional shipment of 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from France.

Following his meeting with Retno, Le Drian met President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Wednesday, during which Jokowi said that he agreed to increase communication between the two countries, particularly since Indonesia and France would hold the presidency of the EU and G20, respectively, next year.

Jokowi said he hoped that France, while holding the presidency of the EU, would help accelerate the discussion about the EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Indonesia.

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