Indonesia and Australia hold defense talks as both nations move toward signing a security agreement

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia and Australia held high-level talks in Jakarta on Friday as the neighboring countries seek to strengthen security ties by signing a defense cooperation agreement in the coming months.

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is set to become Indonesia’s next leader, said that he and Australian counterpart Richard Marles discussed ways of maintaining and enhancing the good relationship between the two nations.

Subianto said that Indonesia and Australia hope to sign a “very significant” defense cooperation agreement within two or three months. No details about the agreement have been provided.

Marles described the pact as “the single deepest and most significant defense cooperation agreement” in the history of the two countries.

“It will be a very significant moment in our bilateral relationship,” Marles said during a joint news conference with Subianto. “Australia and Indonesia have a shared destiny and a shared collective security and that is the basis on which we are moving forward with our own defense planning.”

Subianto, 72, is a former general who has never held elective office. He emerged as the apparent winner of the Feb. 14 presidential election. If an official count conducted over the next few weeks confirms his victory, he’ll take office in October.

Marles, who is on a two-day visit to Indonesia, said in a statement before his trip that the two countries have a long history of close cooperation on maritime security and would “share an ambition to further broaden and deepen our defense relationship.”

Friday’s meeting came less than a week after Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell met with Subianto on Tuesday. The back-to-back visits by two top Australian security