Indonesia, Australia to sign defence pact within months, Australia says

Indonesia and Australia hope to sign a "very significant" defence cooperation agreement within the next few months, Australian defence minister Richard Marles said on Friday after meeting his counterpart in Jakarta.

"Australia and Indonesia have a shared destiny and a shared collective security and that is the basis on which we are moving forward," Marles said after meeting Indonesian defence minister Prabowo Subianto. In a joint statement, Prabowo, Indonesia's likely next president following the Feb.14 election, hailed the good relationship and said the two countries were destined to be good neighbours.

Neither minister provided details about the agreement but Prabowo said he expected it would be signed within two or three months.