WORLD ASIA & PACIFIC Indonesia and Australia seal treaty-level defence pact The pact -- which includes provisions for joint drills and each military operating in the other country -- was unveiled as Indonesian defence minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Canberra. Agencies Sydney, Australia Tue, August 20, 2024 Defense Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto gestures as he attends the annual State of the Nation Address at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Aug. 16, 2024. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Pool) A ustralia and Indonesia unveiled a new defence agreement Tuesday, pledging closer cooperation in the contested Asia-Pacific region as a new leader prepares to take over in Jakarta. The pact -- which includes provisions for joint drills and each military operating in the other country -- was unveiled as Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Canberra. Prabowo said he wanted to forge closer ties with Canberra while following the "general policies" of his predecessor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. He singled out the need for Australian help in areas such as agriculture, food security and international drug trafficking. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said the defence agreement, expected to be formally signed in the coming days, was one of the most significant agreements ever negotiated between the two neighbours. "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 that we share," Albanese told a joint press conference in Canberra with Prabowo. Indonesia and Australia have been hashing out the defence agreement since February last year. 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. "The map really determines that Australia and Indonesia as the closest of neighbours have a shared destiny, but from this moment forth, that destiny is very much defined by deep strategic trust," Marles said. Australia has struck a number of defence deals in recent years, most notably the AUKUS military alliance with the United States and Great Britain that angered China.
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