Washington aims to shore up ties in Southeast Asia amid rivalry with China.
JAKARTA: US defence secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of modernising Indonesia’s military in a meeting with its defence chief, as Washington shores up ties in Southeast Asia amid geopolitical rivalry with China.
The meeting comes as Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, looks to upgrade its military and replace its ageing hardware, earmarking 134.3 trillion rupiah this year for defence, the biggest allocation in its state budget, with a similar amount for next year. In a statement, the Pentagon said the two countries’ defence ministers shared their mutual intention to increase defence capabilities “like fighter aircraft upgrades, new multi-role fighter aircraft, and additional fixed and rotary wing transport aircraft”.
On Monday it announced a deal to buy 24 transport helicopters from US weapons maker Lockheed Martin for an undisclosed fee.Austin and Prabowo also said China’s expansive claims in South China Sea were “inconsistent with international law”, according to the Pentagon statement.
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