By AFP and Focus | 2025-11-13

Australia and Indonesia have agreed to sign a new security treaty, which includes closer military cooperation, the two countries' leaders said after talks in Sydney on November 12.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he hoped to visit Indonesia next year to sign the new treaty. His negotiation partner was Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

Canberra has drawn ever nearer to longtime ally Washington. It has bolstered its military in an attempt to deter the might of a rising China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jakarta has walked a more neutral path. It is wary of drawing too close to Washington and far less willing to aggravate Beijing.

Albanese, speaking alongside Prabowo at an Australian naval base in Sydney, said they had "just substantively concluded negotiations on a new bilateral treaty on our common security."

"This treaty is a recognition from both our nations that the best way to secure ... peace and stability is by acting together," Albanese told reporters.

The coming agreement builds on a Australian-Indonesian defense pact signed in 2024, said Albanese. That pact pledged closer cooperation in the contested Asia-Pacific region and included provisions for each military operating in the other country.

Implementation of the pact came fast. Thousands of Indonesian and Australian troops held joint drills in eastern Java months after signing of the 2024 accord.

'Emerging threats'

The new agreement will commit Australia and Indonesia to "consult at a leader and ministerial level, on a regular basis on matters of security," Albanese said.

It will also facilitate "mutually beneficial security activities, and if either or both countries' security is threatened, to consult and consider what measures may be taken, either individually or jointly, to deal with those threats," he said.

The deal committed the two countries to "close cooperation in the defense and security field," said Prabowo. "We cannot choose our neighbors ... especially countries like us."

"Good neighbors will help each other in times of difficulties," Prabowo added.

Australia hopes to cement closer ties with its populous neighbor as the region is rattled by rivalry between China and the United States. Separated by less than 300km at their closest point, Australia and Indonesia have charted different courses while navigating that geopolitical upheaval.

In August, Australia took part in joint military drills with Indonesia, the United States and other allies. Canberra has also sought to forge closer military ties with other Pacific neighbors in a bid to counter Beijing's rising influence.

For example, it agreed to a new defense treaty with Papua New Guinea in September. The pact will see the two nations commit to defending each other from armed attacks and "emerging threats" to their security.

Balancing China's rise

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the latest accord underscores a broader regional trend: countries in the Asia-Pacific are seeking new frameworks to balance China's assertiveness and expanding reach.

Indonesia, while continuing to cultivate its defense links with Beijing, is also seen as wanting reassurance that a "friendly Australia" can provide strategic balance in an increasingly uncertain environment.

"This neighbor relationship is evolving, and I think it's very important, especially in the era of an unstable security situation in the region," said Edna Caroline, co-founder of Indonesia's strategic and defense think tank ISDS, in an interview with ABC.

"Especially China's rising and the United States pivoting, and like Australia, we live in this region, so we need to cooperate to enhance our mutual interest to have security and stability in the region."

While the full text of the new treaty has not yet been released, it appears to formalize regular consultations between leaders and ministers on shared security concerns and to require coordination when either side faces threats, ABC reported.

Such provisions could, for example, oblige Indonesia to consult Australia if another power, such as Russia, sought to establish a base in West Papua, the broadcaster added.

Analysts cited by ABC described the deal as a potential "crucial strand" in what Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called a "web of relationships" Australia is building across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen regional security.