Jakarta. Indonesia sealed a defense cooperation agreement with Japan on Monday as Tokyo seeks to find buyers of its weapons after ditching its post-war pacifism.

The governments secured the pact during Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s Jakarta visit, not long after Tokyo lifted its lethal arms export ban. Koizumi’s joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin indicated that there was interest in defense industry cooperation. They did not explicitly mention what type of defense equipment Indonesia is eyeing. 

Sjafrie told the press ahead of the signing that the document could become an instrument that would bolster cooperation, which had been taking place based on “mutual respect and benefit”. 

“We have agreed to substantially beef up our cooperation in the defense industry,” Sjafrie said, while indicating a stronger partnership in personnel training that will “take into account respective national interests”.

Koizumi said that strengthening defense ties with the new pact was necessary in today’s situation, citing the ongoing Iran war. 

“We are both maritime nations and share the same values. So working together will largely contribute to defense and peace, not just in our countries, but the region as a whole,” Koizumi said.

Their meeting was not open for press coverage, but Koizumi said that they would discuss “concrete steps for defense technology cooperation”.

Tokyo has recently ended its decades-old taboo on the exports of lethal arms, but any shipments should be limited to countries with whom Japan has a defense agreement, including Indonesia.

At home, President Prabowo Subianto -- a former defense minister -- is pursuing an aggressive agenda of upgrading Indonesia’s ageing weapon systems. In 2026 alone, Indonesia has earmarked a defense budget of Rp 337 trillion ($19.4 billion). A story by German news agency Deutsche Welle on Japan’s removal of the arms export restriction wrote that Indonesia “is reported to be eager to acquire Oyashio-class submarines”.

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