cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/36438967

His visit to meet counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Jakarta came weeks after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made Indonesia his first foreign trip following his landslide election win.

[Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles] Marles said the alliance with Indonesia stood on its own terms, but concerns about China’s military build-up in the region influenced Australia’s foreign policy thinking.

“We’ve made no secret of the fact that we have a security anxiety in relation to China. We’ve made that clear to China itself,” Marles, who also serves as deputy prime minister, told journalists in the Indonesian capital.

[…]

“You just need to look at the map to understand how strategically important Indonesia is to Australia. Its geography is profoundly important,” he said.

“That’s actually what’s driving the increase in the activity between Australia and Indonesia.”

Marles and Sjafrie discussed greater cooperation “in relation to maritime domain awareness”, which would see their militaries share more information about the waters they share, the Australian minister said.

“The relationship between Australia and Indonesia has never been in better shape,” he said.

[…]