Jakarta. Indonesia and Australia are planning to hold joint air force and naval drills in Morotai, the northernmost island in Maluku, as the two neighbors seek to strengthen defense cooperation.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles is currently on a Southeast Asia tour, with Jakarta being one of his stops. He met with his Indonesian counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, at the latter’s office on Thursday morning, just weeks after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Jakarta visit. Shortly after sending Marles off, Sjafrie spoke to reporters about what the two governments had discussed, saying that the talks zeroed in on having their military men train together.

“We will use a training ground at Morotai for a joint exercise for both of our air forces as well as navies,” Sjafrie said. 

Sjafrie did not give the time frame of this exercise plan, although he said that “preparations are underway”. 

During World War II, Morotai turned into a crucial military base for the Allied Forces, a coalition of countries that included the US. American general Douglas MacArthur at the time picked Morotai as the location for air bases and naval facilities.

Although decades have passed since then, Sjafrie claimed that the facilities -- including the runways -- left from the war were still usable. He also revealed that Indonesia would be open to having the US take part in the military exercise, considering Washington’s past involvement in the area.

“There are six runways, and we plan to extend them so our fighter jets and transport planes can land there. … Including [the planes] from our friendly nations or even the US,” Sjafrie said.

Marles did not stop for media comment after the meeting.

In 2024, Indonesia and Australia inked a treaty-level defense cooperation agreement. When Albanese visited Jakarta last month, President Prabowo Subianto said that both countries were committed to ratifying this pact.

When asked by the press about the ratification timeline, Sjafrie said that the government did not set a target as to when Jakarta would make this treaty officially in effect. Last November, both nations conducted joint combat drills involving 2,000 troops, who participated in air, maritime, amphibious, and land operations. The four-day exercise took place in East Java.

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