British President And PM Agree To Increase Defense Cooperation

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto and British Prime Minister (PM) Keir Starmer agreed on a number of increased cooperation commitments between Indonesia and the UK in the defense and foreign policy in bilateral meetings.

"Based on our commitment to contribute to international peace and security. We agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in the defense and security sector," read a joint statement from the Republic of Indonesia on the gov.uk website reported by ANTARA, Thursday, November 21.

Some of the enhanced deals for the defense sector include close partnerships for cybersecurity to cooperation in countering terrorism.

In addition, the UK is also committed to supporting Indonesia in terms of defense industry partnerships, one of which is involved in the development of Indonesia's Red and White Fregates Program.

In terms of foreign policy, Prabowo and Starmer also agreed on several things for Indonesia and the UK, such as strengthening missions to promote and protect human rights in multilateral forums such as at the United Nations, the G20, and ASEAN.

For the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, both Indonesia and Britain underline the commitment to support international law enforcement in line with the principles of the UN Charter to support fair and sustainable peace.

In addition, it was also agreed for the conflict in the Middle East, Indonesia and Britain in one voice to fully support the ceasefire, especially for Gaza. Not only that, the pressure to send humanitarian aid without a hitch must be prioritized along with the release of the hostages.

For foreign policies that were mutually agreed upon by both Indonesia and Britain, is a call for de-escalation of the conflict in Lebanon which is expected to be resolved peacefully and diplomatically.