JAKARTA – On November 16, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto signed a historic Defense Cooperation Arrangement (DCA) between the United States and Indonesia. The Defense Cooperation Arrangement unlocks new opportunities for advanced cooperation that the United States will explore with Indonesia.
The two leaders celebrated the recent upgrade of the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by Presidents Biden and Joko Widodo and discussed ways to expand training opportunities, increase educational exchanges, and improve maritime domain awareness.
“Minister Prabowo and I just signed a historic Defense Cooperation Arrangement on the margins of the ADMM-Plus here in Jakarta,” noted Secretary Austin. “The deepening defense relationship between the United States and Indonesia forms a core part of our newly upgraded Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
Secretary Austin noted to reporters that the signing follows “the largest-ever iteration of Super Garuda Shield in Indonesia” in September. “[I]n that exercise, we had seven participating countries with 11 observer nations.”
While in Indonesia, Secretary Austin attend the 10th annual ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, one year after the United States’ elevation of its relationship with ASEAN to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Secretary emphasized the U.S. commitment to ASEAN centrality as a key pillar of the United States’ efforts to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific and detailed how U.S. security cooperation with ASEAN partners is contributing to a more stable and prosperous region. He discussed U.S. support for a shared regional vision and outlined challenges to that vision, including coercive PRC activities in the South China Sea, the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, destabilizing DPRK proliferation activities, and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
(Photos by Chad McNeeley, Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs)
