Australia, Indonesia sign security deal in hedge against China

JAKARTA – Australia’s and Indonesia’s leaders signed a security deal on Feb 6, one of a series of agreements that Canberra has secured with neighbouring countries to reinforce ties and limit China’s influence in the region.

At a signing ceremony, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said before he travelled to Jakarta that the pact was a “watershed moment” in ties.

“It represents a major extension of our security and defence cooperation, and demonstrates that our relationship is as strong as it has ever been”, Mr Albanese said.

Australia’s centre-left government has signed a series of defence, police and aid deals across the Pacific region since taking office in 2022, attempting to boost its influence and to try to limit that of China.

The effort has intensified under the Trump administration as the US leans on allies to take up more of the burden in deterring Beijing’s growing military power.

In late 2025, Australia concluded a security deal with Papua New Guinea, which sits north of Australia and east of Indonesia, and Mr Albanese visited Timor-Leste in late January, signing a new agreement to provide various kinds of aid and support.

“The government can be very pleased with the agreements it signed across the Pacific,” said Mr Sam Roggeveen, director of the security programme at the Lowy Institute, a think-tank.

“Indonesia is in a different category because of its size and also because of this historic commitment to non-alignment,” he said, referring to the country’s efforts to seek a middle path in the Cold War.  

The deal is largely based on an agreement signed by then Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating and Indonesian leader Suharto 30 years ago that Jakarta abrogated following East Timor’s vote for independence from Indonesia. It also builds on a 2006 Lombok treaty between the two nations, Mr Albanese said in 2025 when talks concluded. 

Ties between Indonesia and Australia have shifted from high tensions during the Cold War and following the fall of Mr Suharto to relatively warmer relations in recent years.

Jakarta has long sought to balance its foreign policy by maintaining cordial ties with Western nations as well as other developing countries.

Mr Roggeveen highlighted that Indonesia is likely to become a regional power as its economy and population continue to grow, and the agreement can help to ensure good relations as its economy surpasses Australia’s.

Canberra is signalling “that Indonesia is equally important to Australia’s security as the United States”, he said.

“Indonesia’s interests and China’s ambitions in South-east Asia are going to clash more and more directly over time,” Mr Roggeveen said, noting that the two nations already have a border dispute in the South China Sea. 

“As China’s maritime power grows and as its ambitions grow in South-east Asia, then I think Indonesia increasingly faces a choice of either accommodating China or resisting those ambitions,” he said, adding that the deal with Australia would help it bolster its defence capabilities. BLOOMBERG