Australia, U.S. will push for closer Indonesia military ties

By CNN's Grant Holloway and wire services

CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- The United States and Australia will push for increased military contacts with Indonesia following wide-ranging talks held in Australia Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met Australian counterparts Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Defense Minister Peter Reith as well as Australian defense force chiefs and senior bureaucrats to discuss security and trade issues in the South-east Asian region.

Speaking at a joint media conference after the talks, Australia's Downer said the U.S. was keen to improve contacts with the Indonesian military and it made sense for Australia to do the same.

"We see value in the U.S. and Australia having quite established contacts with the Indonesian military," Downer said.

Secretary Powell had suggested earlier that he was considering asking the U.S. Congress to modify existing laws to make such approaches possible, raising the prospect of renewed arms sales from the U.S. to Indonesia.

"Congress has in place certain restrictions on what we can do with the Indonesians, so we will approach the new Indonesian Government with an attitude of helpfulness but also an attitude of caution and only provide those things that are consistent with our laws," Powell said.

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"We'll go back to our Congress to get those laws modified or waived if that seems to be appropriate."

Such a move is supported by the Australian Government which in the past has had a turbulent relationship with Indonesian administrations over military and territorial issues.

The tone of the talks between the two allies was clearly upbeat, with one analyst suggesting the 50-year old security alliance had never been in stronger shape.

Australia was clearly welcoming any increase of interest by the U.S. in security issues concerning the South-east Asian region, the analyst said.

At the media conference, Downer was quick to downplay any perception that the allies had fallen out over the U.S. refusal to sign a new protocol on restricting the development of biological weapons.

He also dismissed suggestions Australia was perturbed by an apparent move towards a more unilateral approach to world affairs by the U.S.

"We have never expressed concern on unilaterlaism by the United States. Our experience with the Bush Administration is that it has been most consultative," Downer said.

"We're very heartened by the focus that they're placing on the Asia Pacific region, that really is a very good thing for Australia," Downer said.

Australia's conservative government has backed Bush's plans to develop a multi-billion dollar defense shield and Washington's rejection of the Kyoto protocol on climate change.