Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles met his Indonesian counterpart on Monday to deepen security ties amid China's increasingly assertive activity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Although Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation of more than 270 million people, is often presented as one of Australia’s most important neighbors and strategic allies, the relationship has undergone various ups and downs.
In 2017, Indonesia temporarily suspended military cooperation with Australia, including joint training, education, exchanges of officers and visits, over an alleged insult against the Indonesian state ideology “Pancasila” and the Indonesian military at an Australian military base. Last year, Australia, along with Japan and Singapore, joined for the first time the annual Indonesia-U.S. joint combat exercise called Super Garuda Shield, making it the largest since the drills began in 2009.
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