Australia, Indonesia agree to upgrade defence ties

Canberra, Aug 21 (IANS) Australia and Indonesia have agreed to upgrade their defence ties to a treaty-level agreement.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's President-elect and Defence Minister, on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations to upgrade the Australia-Indonesia Defence Cooperation Arrangement after meeting for talks in Canberra, Xinhua news agency reported.The treaty-level pact includes provisions for joint drills and for the Australian and Indonesian militaries to operate from each other's countries.

"It will be a vital plank for our two countries to support each other's security, which is vital to both countries but also to the stability of the region we share," Albanese told reporters at a joint press conference with Prabowo and Richard Marles, the Australian Minister for Defence and Deputy Prime Minister.The agreement, negotiations on which began in February 2023, will also improve education links between the countries and escalate cooperation on maritime security.

Prabowo, who won Indonesia's presidential election in February and will be inaugurated in October, thanked Albanese and Marles for progress on the defence agreement but also called for Australia to extend more help and assistance in agriculture, food security and narcotics."I view the drug problem and the narcotics threat to be of the highest importance in Indonesia and I really value Australian help in this case," Prabowo said.