Jakarta. Indonesia will likely get its hands on Asagiri-class destroyers, as Jakarta and Japan decided to enter talks for a warship transfer.

Indonesia has been trying to power up its military force, all the while Japan moves away from its postwar pacifism by relaxing curbs on lethal arms exports. The two nations have recently shaken hands on a defense cooperation arrangement, which further cements Jakarta as a possible arms client.

When Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi hosted his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Tokyo on Friday, the governments signaled the possibility of the decades-old Asagiri warships joining the Indonesian Navy's fleet.

“Minister Sjafrie expressed his intention to materialize defense equipment and technology cooperation, including the transfer of Asagiri-class destroyers and other equipment,” a statement by the Japanese Defense Ministry reads.

“The two ministers reached a consensus to start discussions within the working group, including those on education and training, maintenance and sustainment, and operational aspects.”

Tokyo offered no details on when the first round of negotiations would take place, including how many units were on the table. Japan had been using the Asagiris since the late 1980s, with the first unit decommissioned earlier this year. 

At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, Koizumi had told the premier security forum that he shared a  “very close relationship” with Sjafrie. The Japanese politician also admitted to having spoken to Sjafrie’s deputy minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto, during the conference.

“We agreed to establish a working group on defense equipment and technology transfer from Japan to Indonesia. I’m going to find out the best way to start with Indonesia,” Koizumi said.

At home, Indonesia’s budget for defense purposes this fiscal year stands at Rp 337 trillion ($18.6 billion). The Defense Ministry gets to spend no more than Rp 187.1 trillion ($10.3 billion), of which nearly Rp 83.5 trillion ($4.6 billion) is earmarked for military upgrades. 

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