Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia and Australia agreed on a treaty-level defence cooperation pact which allows their militaries to operate in each other's territories, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on August 20.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Canberra with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto, Albanese said that the pact will be a vital plank for the two countries to support each other's security, which is vital to both and also to the stability of the region.
Australia and Indonesia share the world's longest maritime boundary and already collaborate on a number of issues including security, people-trafficking and drug smuggling.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said that the map really determines that Australia and Indonesia as the closest of neighbours have a shared destiny, but that destiny is very much defined by deep strategic trust.
Australia has struck a number of defence deals in recent years, most notably the AUKUS military alliance with the US and the UK.
At a forum last November, Prabowo, then Minister of Defense of Indonesia, said that Indonesia would pursue its policy of non-alignment and keep good ties with both China and the US./.
