Australia's Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, landed in Jakarta on Sunday to begin a three-day visit to Indonesia, where he pledged to strengthen bilateral collaboration.
It is his first bilateral visit since becoming Australia's 31st Prime Minister on May 23. Albanese will meet President Joko Widodo on Monday, joined by other cabinet colleagues, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
"I pledged to visit Indonesia as soon as possible because it is one of our closest neighbors," Albanese stated in a press release prior to the trip.
"I look forward to strengthening our relationships," he stated, "particularly revitalizing our economic partnership and promoting climate, infrastructure, and energy cooperation."
Wong earlier stated that Australia's new government would give Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, a higher priority.
In 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the last to visit Indonesia in 2018. At a press conference on Thursday, the director of the Indonesian foreign ministry's East Asia and Pacific division remarked that freshly elected Australian prime ministers have made it a custom to visit Southeast Asia's largest economy first.
The discussions, according to Santo Darmosumarto, would center on post-Covid economic recovery and the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which was agreed in 2020 but has yet to be fully implemented owing to the pandemic.
According to Darmosumarto, the leaders will also discuss the G20, which Indonesia is chairing this year.
One analyst says Australia-Indonesia relations can be unpredictable.
"The Australia-Indonesia relationship may be stormy, like a rollercoaster," Teuku Rezasyah, a Padjadjaran University international relations professor, told a news journalist.
He claimed that if Australia "pressed Indonesia to be a part of AUKUS," referring to the security treaty between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the ties would be jeopardized.
Indonesia is one of several Asian countries that have voiced opposition to the AUKUS deal, with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi warning that it could lead to a regional nuclear arms race.
Australia is also a member of the Quad, an alliance formed to fight China's regional dominance.
When it comes to foreign policy, Indonesia, on the other hand, prefers to be non-aligned.
