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

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