Indonesia and Japan promise deeper ties

BOGOR, Jan 11 (AP): Japan and Indonesia pledged on Saturday to deepen economic and defense ties during a visit by the Japanese prime minister amid heightened global geopolitical tensions.

Shigeru Ishiba arrived in Jakarta on Friday from Kuala Lumpur after meeting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. His visit to the two countries is meant to promote regional cooperation to counter Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea as the U.S. presence in the region may decrease after President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto welcomed Ishiba at the Bogor presidential palace, just outside Jakarta, along with greeters wearing Indonesian traditional clothes and a military band that played both national anthems before the two leaders - both former defense ministers - held a bilateral meeting.

During the meeting, Ishiba pledged to support Indonesia's goal of food and energy self-sufficiency, participate in its defense development and the industrialization of its natural resources, including the strategic mining of minerals, and to provide nutritious meals to Indonesian schoolchildren.

In a joint press conference with Subianto, Japan's prime minister also promised to help Indonesia become a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The two sides signed an agreement on a Japanese loan of up to 90.4 billion yen ($573 million) for projects including a new port construction at Patimban to improve Indonesian transportation and distribution systems.

Subianto said the meeting was "warm, friendly and intensive," and that they also discussed the regional situation and rising political tensions.

"Indonesia has a desire to maintain good relations with all nations, so that it can contribute to an atmosphere that can reduce tensions between major countries," the Indonesian president said.