Indonesia, Australia to expand security cooperation with Japan, PNG

Indonesian defence minister says Morotai island in North Maluku province could be site of future joint training facility.

Indonesia and Australia are planning to expand their security cooperation to include Japan and Papua New Guinea (PNG), Jakarta’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said after a meeting with his Australian counterpart, according to reports.

After meeting with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday, Sjafrie said that trilateral security arrangements would be developed with Indonesia, Australia and Japan, as well as between Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea, according to the Reuters news agency.

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Indonesia and Australia will also work together on intelligence sharing, Sjafrie said, without providing details.

Marles said in a post on social media later that the meeting was an opportunity to discuss “our defence relationship as we work together to support a secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific region”.

The planned security cooperation expansion follows Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signing a security treaty last month between the two countries that was hailed as “historic” in Canberra.

Under the “Treaty on Common Security”, both sides committed to developing joint military training facilities in Indonesia as well as to increased cooperation and information sharing, including consulting “at a leader and ministerial level” on security matters faced by both countries.

In October last year, Australia signed a mutual defence pact with Papua New Guinea (PNG) and in 2022 signed a treaty with Japan that allowed for greater engagement and “operability” between Japanese and Australian forces.

The Australian and Indonesian ministers on Thursday also discussed the possibility of developing a defence training facility on the island of Morotai in Indonesia’s North Maluku province, which was previously used as a military base during World War II, Indonesian news outlet Kompas.com reported.

Defence Minister Sjafrie said the military site still had a number of defence structures which could be upgraded for joint use by Indonesia and Australia, according to Kompas.

“We will work together to improve and use it,” Sjafrie said, according to the news outlet.

Military personnel from countries such as the Philippines, Australia and Singapore would have access to the facility, as well as another in North Kalimantan province being developed with Singapore, the defence minister said.