Jakarta. Indonesia and Australia are in talks to expand their security cooperation to incorporate Japan after the close neighbors struck a landmark treaty on increased consultations against threats, a senior official said on Thursday.

The Jakarta Treaty was the centerpiece of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Indonesia in early February. The pact has opened up the possibility for Canberra and Jakarta to coordinate joint responses if either is attacked.

"There was the idea of creating an Indonesia, Australia, Japan trilateral [arrangement] that puts more emphasis on defense and professionalism,” Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsjoeddin told the press after hosting a meeting with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Jakarta.

Sjafrie offered few details on the Japan cooperation. The minister admitted that Jakarta was open to having joint military exercises with the two G20 nations, while saying it’s normal for countries to engage in such drills. He confirmed that he would discuss this in more depth with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who is slated to visit Jakarta in May. 

Jakarta’s engagements in the defense field with Japan mainly revolve around Tokyo donating patrol boats, among others. 

The Sjafrie-Marles talks laser in on turning Maluku’s northernmost island, Morotai, into an international training facility. The Allied Forces turned Morotai into their base in their fight against the Japanese military during World War II. According to Sjafrie, this training ground will be open for other foreign air and naval forces, including Japan.

Sjafrie also claimed to have floated an "intelligence sharing" plan to Marles in response to the global developments.

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