Indonesia and Australia sign defense agreement

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia and Australia signed a defense agreement on Thursday that both sides described as a significant upgrade to their military relationship.

Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto, who also serves as defense minister, signed the Defense Cooperation Agreement with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles at Indonesia’s National Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java province.

Marles said the agreement, whose text has not been published, is “an important piece of international architecture, a treaty-level agreement” but not a military alliance. He added that the two countries plan to hold the largest joint military exercise in their history in November, which will be Australia’s largest overseas exercise of the year.

The bilateral relationship is becoming increasingly important to Australia in face of growing tensions with China in the region. New Australian prime ministers typically make Jakarta one of their first overseas destinations.

Subianto has vowed to continue Indonesia’s long-standing policy of non-alignment as president.

“We did it to work together, as neighbors who are in direct contact, to increase cooperation to help each other overcome various security threats and promote sustainable peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region,” Subianto said on Thursday.

Australia’s defense ministry said that the agreement will include “enhanced practical cooperation and interoperability between our defence forces in areas such as maritime security, counter terrorism, humanitarian and disaster relief, logistics support, education and training, as well as across defence industry.”

“The defense cooperation agreement between our two nations is the deepest. It’s the the most significant