Blinken is expected to visit Jakarta on Dec. 13-14, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for American and European affairs, Ngurah Swajaya, said on Monday.

The visit is being played up as the starting point for more high-level talks between the two countries, just as Indonesia takes on the presidency of the Group of 20 and is set to host the world’s leaders in Bali next year.

Blinken’s visit would be the third by a senior US diplomat to the country in the last few months, after President Joe Biden sent Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in June, as well as State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs Daniel Kritenbrink last week.

A separate visit to the Indonesian capital by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is also in the pipeline, Ngurah said.

“This visit will be the beginning of more intensive interactions between Indonesia and the US,” he told reporters in a briefing in Jakarta, adding that officials from both sides were working on a number of clear deliverables.

While in Jakarta, Blinken is also planning to deliver a policy speech on the US Indo-Pacific strategy, Ngurah said, particularly “in relation to issues like health, economy and investment, infrastructure, as well as climate and digital transformation”.

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