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Immediate Release

Joint Statement Between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia and the Department of Defense of the United States of America

Jakarta, Indonesia – In conjunction with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan met to underscore the continuing strong partnership between the two nations.

Acting Secretary Shanahan and Minister Ryacudu reaffirmed the sound mechanisms and agreements outlined in the 2010 Framework Arrangement on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defense and the 2015 Joint Statement on Comprehensive Defense Cooperation. The leaders emphasized the strong desire of both countries to continue strengthening the defense partnership to address regional and global challenges.

The strong and resilient Indonesia-U.S. military relationship is founded and guided by the principles of equality, reciprocity, respect for international rules and norms, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, and the pursuit of mutual interests. Indonesia and the United States are committed to sustaining those characteristics of collaboration, candid discussion and information sharing that deepen trust and enable close cooperation to address common security challenges. 

Both leaders reiterated their commitment to strengthening the existing robust bilateral exercise program to enhance capacity and interoperability. Furthermore, they agreed to expand on our Army-to-Army exercise next year by normalizing the Army special forces’ relationship with a joint combined exercise training with Indonesia’s KOPASSUS special forces beginning in 2020.

The acting secretary and the minister emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation to combat transnational threats across the sea, land, air and cyber domains. They also support the possibility of increasing information sharing and exchange of views on an assessment of regional threats by using the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Our Eyes (AOE) as the platform for strategic information exchange among Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states. 

Indonesia and the U.S. share a common regard for honoring the service and sacrifice of its military members. The leaders discussed the importance of supporting the sanctity of remains entombed in vessels like the World War II wreck, USS Houston and cooperating to identify U.S. remains in Indonesia.