In his first international visit since being re-elected, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held official talks on Thursday with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, where the two leaders pledged to strengthen military and economic ties.

Albanese, accompanied by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, flew to Indonesia just one day after his Labor Party government was sworn in on Tuesday. Ahead of the trip, he told reporters in Perth: “There is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia. Together we are setting an ambitious agenda to deepen our ties.”

The high-level make-up of the Australian delegation, comprising three of the central leaders of the government, was clearly intended to signal the priorities of the new Labor administration.

As in its first term, it will play a central role in promoting the US-led confrontation with China, including by seeking to integrate the various South East Asian and Pacific states in this build-up. That was a signal, not only to the Indonesian regime and others throughout the region, but also the fascistic Trump administration, whose central foreign policy agenda is escalating the confrontation with Beijing.

Albanese visited Indonesia little over a week after a phone call with Trump which centred on AUKUS, the pact between Australia, the US and the UK which is a cockpit for planning the military build-up in the region against China.

The form of the visit highlighted the militarist intent. Albanese was welcomed by Prabowo to the Merdeka Presidential Palace with a military ceremony of soldiers on horseback and schoolchildren waving flags, as the two leaders conducted an inspection of the troops.

The meeting with Prabowo pledged to ratify the two countries’ Defence Cooperation Agreement, signed last August, which is aimed at boosting interoperability between the Australian and Indonesian armed forces in maritime security, joint training, counterterrorism and disaster response, among other areas.

Albanese spoke on the agreement after the meeting. “It represents the most significant step in the Australia and Indonesia security partnership for three decades,” he said. “But let me be very clear—I do not see this agreement as the last step. I want us to aim higher, go further and work even more closely together—and I see President Prabowo as a leader with the vision and determination to make that happen.”

A joint communiqué outlined the two leaders’ commitment to increased maritime cooperation, including a $15 million package from Australia, amid growing tensions between the United States and China in the South China Sea. The leaders agreed to “further joint work” in order to address “shared maritime security challenges.”

Albanese’s clear aim of aligning Indonesia more closely with the aggressive US agenda in the South China Sea was shrouded in fraudulent references to “maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region.” The communiqué absurdly framed Australia’s role in stoking geopolitical tensions with China as an effort to “reduce the risk of conflict and crisis.”

In reality, the Albanese government has played the role of Washington’s attack dog in the Indo-Pacific, pressuring countries in the region into full alignment with US war plans. While Indonesia has no territorial dispute with China, Beijing’s ten-dash-line overlaps with Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone around the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea—a fact that US imperialism will no doubt look to exploit.

The Australian press indicated that behind the scenes, there were likely discussions of expanded military exercises. Australia’s Defence Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia paved the way for a joint military exercise held last November, named Keris Woomera, which was the largest combined drill in recent history for the two nations. Around 2,000 personnel from both armed forces participated in the exercise, which featured live-fire, air, maritime and amphibious training operations.

The push for expanded “defence cooperation” is aimed at compelling the South East Asian nations to end their attempts to balance between the US and China and to commit to the offensive against Beijing.

Like most of the region’s leaders, Prabowo has continued to publicly avow Indonesia’s “non-aligned” foreign policy, enshrined in the constitution. Indonesia relies heavily on trade and investment from China, while Russia is the source of much of its military hardware. Earlier this year, it became the first South East Asian nation to join the BRICS economic bloc, in which Russia and China play major roles, as a full member.

Albanese’s visit was held just weeks after unsubstantiated reports, emanating from a western private intelligence firm, claimed that Russia was requesting to station warplanes in Indonesia, in the eastern province of Papua.

The claims coincided with the Australian federal election campaign. Sections of the corporate media with close ties to the national-security apparatus published hysterical articles, asserting that Russia was on the cusp of developing a substantial military presence on “Australia’s doorstep.”

The clear message, irrespective of the shoddiness of the allegations and Indonesia’s disavowal of any plans for a Russian base, was the need to intensify pressure on its government to deepen its integration with the US and Australia.

That push has involved other states aligned with Washington. In January, Indonesia and Japan agreed that Tokyo would provide the Indonesian navy with patrol boats, and discussion would resume on joint construction of naval warships.

Given Australia’s intent to align Indonesia with the anti-China war drive, Albanese’s visit was significant for its efforts to legitimise Prabowo as a political figure. Prabowo, a former general in the US-backed Suharto military dictatorship, was personally responsible for countless atrocities in his role as head of Kopassus, a notorious special forces group.

The friendly relations between the two leaders were expressed in a surprise visit by Prabowo to Albanese’s hotel room, for a one-on-one that went more than an hour over schedule.

After hailing their “warm relationship” at a press conference, Albanese responded to a question on Prabowo’s human rights record with praise for the leader: “He’s someone who is resilient, someone who received overwhelming support for his ticket… I think we should celebrate the democracy here.” In reality, Prabowo, a former lieutenant general and son-in-law of the dictator Suharto, is directly implicated in the crimes of the Indonesian dictatorship, including the killing of civilians and political opponents.

Far from being a champion of democracy, Prabowo is seeking to consolidate an increasingly authoritarian rule. Albanese’s whitewash of these realities was in keeping with the longstanding record of Australian imperialism, including its Labor governments, with the Whitlam, Hawke and Keating Labor administrations all having worked closely with the Suharto regime.

Albanese’s fawning over Prabowo underscores the fraudulent character of claims that the US-led push against China has anything to do with “human rights” or “democracy.” In reality, the US is seeking to overcome its economic decline through the use of its military might, with Beijing viewed as the chief threat to American imperialist hegemony. For its part, the Australian ruling elite is prosecuting its own predatory interests, in the South Pacific and throughout Asia, under the umbrella of that war drive.

That also includes a deepening crackdown on democratic rights by the Australian government. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was undoubtedly part of the delegation to discuss military and police collaboration in seeking to prevent refugees, many of whom set off from Indonesia, from exercising their right to seek asylum in Australia, a right enshrined in international law.