Australia and Indonesia said they are close to signing a new bilateral defense treaty that will commit the two countries to consulting one another if either is threatened.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference in Sydney during the Indonesian leader's first state visit to Australia on Wednesday.

What have Australia and Indonesia agreed to?

"The governments of Australia and Indonesia have just substantively concluded negotiations on a new bilateral treaty on our common security," Albanese told reporters in a statement with Prabowo.

"This treaty will commit Australia and Indonesia to consult at a leader and ministerial level on a regular basis on matters of security, to identify and undertake mutually beneficial security activities, and if either or both countries' security is threatened, to consult and consider what measures may be taken either individually or jointly, to deal with those threats," Albanese said.

He said both countries had recognized that cooperative action was the best way to secure peace and stability in the region.

Albanese said he hoped to sign the completed treaty during a visit to Indonesia in January.

In his turn, Prabowo said: "Good neighbors will help each other in times of difficulties and in the Indonesian culture, we have a saying when we face an emergency, it is our neighbor that will help us.

"Our determination is to maintain the best of relationships in order to enhance and guarantee security for both of our countries," he said.

In October, Australia signed a key security deal with another regional neighbor, Papua New Guinea, under which both nations are obliged to come to each other's aid if either is attacked.

That deal, too, is being seen as a measure to counter China's growing influence in the region.

Complex security situation

Australia and Indonesia signed their first security deal 30 years ago, but it was abrogated by Indonesia in 1999 after Australia sent troops to East Timor, then under Indonesian rule, to maintain order amid violence accompanying the country's move to gain independence.

Since then, several other security deals have been signed between the two countries, notably the so-called Lombok Treaty of 2006.

However, Indonesia has also recently been cooperating with countries that are, unlike Australia, not US allies.

Last year, it conducted military drills simultaneously with both Russia and Australia.

Earlier this year, Prabowo joined Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at China's largest ever military parade, after Indonesia and China held joint "disaster relief" exercises in 2024.

Indonesia has also recently become a member of BRICS, a group widely seen as a counterweight to the G7, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Edited by Sean Sinico