Indonesia and Australia to expand security cooperation with Japan and PNG | military news

Indonesia’s Defense Minister says Morotai Island in North Maluku province could be the site of a future joint training facility.

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

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

Indonesia and Australia will also work together to share intelligence, Sjafrie said, without giving details.

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

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

Under the “Common Security Treaty,” both sides committed to developing joint military training facilities in Indonesia, as well as increasing cooperation and information sharing, including consultation “at the leadership and ministerial level” on security issues facing both countries.

In October last year, Australia signed a mutual defense 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.

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

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

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

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