Indonesia, Japan sign defence pact after Tokyo unlocks arms exports

JAKARTA – The defence ministers of Indonesia and Japan signed a cooperation agreement on May 4, Jakarta said, underlining the need to safeguard regional peace and stability in the face of global tumult.

The signing during Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s visit to Indonesia came after Tokyo eased a decades-old curb on arms exports in April, allowing firms to sell lethal weapons to any of the 17 countries with which Japan has defence agreements.

Indonesian defence ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait told AFP that the agreement was part of efforts to improve defence cooperation between the two countries.

The pact covers issues including collaboration in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, joint exercises and maritime cooperation, he said.

He added that it also “opens up opportunities for cooperation in defence equipment and technology” while “prioritising... regional stability”.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, a former general, has been pushing to modernise the country’s ageing military assets since taking office in 2024.

Mr Koizumi earlier said that defence cooperation with Indonesia would make a “contribution to peace and stability... for the region as a whole” amid “an increasingly complex and tense international situation”.

After his talks with Indonesia’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Jakarta, Mr Koizumi is bound for the Philippines, where Japanese forces are taking part in a joint military exercise also including the US.

Indonesia in April concluded a defence cooperation pact with the US, agreed to increase security ties with France, and inked an oil deal with Russia.

Jakarta, while defending a non-aligned diplomatic posture it calls “free and active”, in 2025 joined the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that includes Russia and US rival China.

Mr Prabowo has also signed a trade deal with US President Donald Trump and joined his so-called “Board of Peace”.

Last week, Jakarta said it was still considering a US request for blanket overflight clearance, which, if approved, analysts say could be seen as an alignment with Washington over Beijing.

Indonesia is strategically located on the Malacca Strait – the world’s busiest chokepoint for oil and petroleum liquids, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The vast majority of China-bound oil travels through the strait. AFP