Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesia and Australia have agreed in principle to establish a landmark bilateral security and defense pact, paving the way for the two neighbors to assist one another if either feels threatened by external forces.
The announcement was made jointly by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto aboard the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Canberra in Sydney on Wednesday (November 12).
“Today I stand beside my friend, President of Indonesia, Mr. Prabowo Subianto, to make an historic announcement,” Albanese said in remarks broadcast by Indonesia’s Presidential Secretariat.
“The governments of Australia and Indonesia have just concluded substantial negotiations on a new bilateral agreement on joint security,” he added.
Albanese described the proposed treaty as marking a “new era of partnership” between the two nations, deepening cooperation in defense, intelligence sharing, and regional stability.
Under the pact, both countries would hold regular consultations, including at ministerial and even head-of-state levels, on emerging security issues.
“This treaty recognizes that the best way to secure peace and stability is to act together,” Albanese said. “If the security of either or both nations is threatened, we will consult and consider what measures, individually or jointly can be taken to address the threat.”
The agreement draws inspiration from a 1995 defense pact signed by then–Prime Minister Paul Keating and Indonesian President Suharto, as well as the 2006 Lombok Treaty, which reaffirmed Indonesia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Although the structure of the agreement has yet to be fully detailed, analysts note similarities with NATO’s collective defense principle, in which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. However, it remains unclear how such provisions would be implemented under the new bilateral framework.
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President Prabowo welcomed the initiative, calling it “a vital step toward strengthening trust and stability in the region.”
“We have had very good discussions, and I believe we have reached an important agreement, a significant treaty between Australia and Indonesia, to work closely together in defense and security,” Prabowo said.
He added that geography makes cooperation between the two nations inevitable. “We cannot choose our neighbors. It is our destiny to be side by side. Therefore, we must face that destiny with the best intentions,” he said, reaffirming his belief in maintaining a ‘good neighbor policy’ to safeguard peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
(Raidi/Agung)
