(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to share with you the details of the Japan-Indonesia Defense Ministerial Meeting and other events I attended today. Minister Sjafrie and I have coordinated closely, including building a personal relationship of trust, ever since we met for the first time at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Malaysia last November and held a Japan-Indonesia Defense Ministerial Meeting. Yesterday, Minister Sjafrie and I visited Bali on their government plane and had dinner together. In addition, we went for a walk in the early morning and had a defense ministerial meeting and lunch. I have had numerous meetings with other ministers, but I believe Minister Sjafrie is the first minister with which I ate all three meals together. Through our close cooperation and the considerable amount of time we spent together, we were able to further deepen our personal relationship of trust. I am very pleased that Minister Sjafrie and I were able to hold a series of substantive discussions for elevating the Japan-Indonesia defense relationship to new heights. During this visit, Minister Sjafrie and I signed the Defence Cooperation Arrangement (DCA), which we have discussed and coordinated on since last November. The fact that we were able to reach agreement and sign it in less than six months is proof not only of the relationship of trust between Minister Sjafrie and myself, but also of the close coordination between our respective officials. I would like to express my sincere respect and gratitude to the officials who worked on the specifics in this short period of time. The Arrangement expands upon the Memorandum on Cooperation and Exchanges in the Field of Defense signed in 2015, and serves as a new compass for future cooperation. At the Japan-Indonesia Defense Ministerial Meeting, we concurred on the following five items based on the signing of the Arrangement. First, developing the Integrated Defence Dialogue Mechanism between political, policy, and unit operation leaders. Not many countries have institutionalized dialogue at the three levels. “Three levels” refer to ministerial dialogue between Minister Sjafrie and myself, defense strategic dialogue at the senior officials level, and meeting between the Self-Defense Forces and the Indonesian National Armed Forces at appropriate operational levels, including senior operational-level authorities. Second, we concurred on enhancing discussions on measures to protect classified military information, with a view to strengthening operational cooperation. Third, the two sides concurred that, when necessary to ensure the security of both countries and peace and stability in the region, both sides would consult with each other. Fourth, we concurred on substantively deepening our cooperation under the revised defense equipment transfer framework, and to this end, we decided to establish a working group under the two ministers. Fifth, in order to jointly contribute to regional and global peace and stability, we concurred on proceeding with discussions on cooperation within multilateral frameworks, including trilateral cooperation between Australia, Indonesia, and Japan, in addition to other frameworks such as the ADMM-Plus. Furthermore, in light of the signing of the DCA, Minister Sjafrie expressed his wish to confer a decoration upon me in recognition of the significant progress made in Japan-Indonesia defense relations. The necessary procedures will be taken for the formal acceptance of the decoration. I am greatly honored by this demonstration of friendship and trust between myself and Minister Sjafrie. Following the Defense Ministerial Meeting, I laid flowers at the Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery, where national heroes who contributed to the nation-building of Indonesia are buried, and visited the gravesite of former Japanese soldiers interred there. Indonesia is a strategically important country situated in a key point on Japan’s sea lanes and, as a fellow maritime nation, is an essential partner for strengthening defense cooperation. During today’s meeting, Minister Sjafrie remarked that the keyword for Japan-Indonesia cooperation is “wisdom capability”—the capability to bring together the power of wisdom to overcome challenges and build the future together. I could not agree more. Together with Minister Sjafrie, I intend to further develop our defense cooperation relationship with Indonesia. That concludes my opening remarks.