The leaders of Indonesia and Australia have met and agreed to strengthen cooperation in areas, such as economics and security. Their meeting comes as the US, China and other global powers are trying to ramp up their presence in the region.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held talks in Sydney on Tuesday. They said both countries are committed to maintaining peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

In a news conference, Joko said, "I conveyed Indonesia's position, and ASEAN's is clear. We want the Indo-Pacific to become a stable and peaceful region that focuses on collaboration and concrete cooperation."

Albanese said, "All countries in the region, large and small, have a collective responsibility to help keep the region peaceful."

The countries have been negotiating a defense treaty. The leaders stressed the importance of diplomacy. They said it can be used to avoid the risk of miscalculation in the region.

But Indonesia is concerned about Australia's plan to acquire US-made nuclear-powered submarines. Canberra intends to obtain the submarines through the trilateral framework with the US and UK that is known as AUKUS. The acquisition could lead to an increase in geopolitical tensions with China.

Indonesia has been calling on the AUKUS members to be transparent about the pact's programs.

The leaders also discussed economic cooperation, including joint production of EV batteries. Joko said the two countries should build more strategic relations. Both nations have huge reserves of key materials, such as nickel and lithium.