Between France and Indonesia, a Marriage of Convenience in the Indo-Pacific
The stopovers of the “Charles de Gaulle” and Sébastien Lecornu begin a Franco-Indonesian year that will culminate in the summer with presidential visits.
After China and India, Indonesia is France’s new darling in the Indo-Pacific. At the end of January, Indonesia welcomed both the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, and the naval group on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, currently on stopover in Lombok, an island neighboring Bali. “The upcoming implementation of the Scorpène contract and the delivery of the first Rafale jets in the coming months will help further develop a true operational intimacy,” M. Lecornu said in a statement released simultaneously with his visit. He held a meeting lasting no less than three hours on Friday morning with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who is also a former Minister of Defence. This trip marks the beginning of an important year, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
“Indonesia is the second-largest client of the French defence industry in the Indo-Pacific after India,” the minister’s entourage stated before the trip. Taking off under Florence Parly with the signing of a sale for 42 Rafale jets in February 2022, the partnership between the archipelagic state and France is one of the rare relationships in East Asia that Paris monitors with great care. In addition to the Rafale jets, France secured the sale of around fifty Caesar cannons to Jakarta in the 2010s, 13 Thales radars in 2023, and two Scorpène submarines for Naval Group in 2024.
The next step is now to initiate industrial cooperations to strengthen Indonesia’s key defence players… and pave the way for even more ambitious future orders. “French and Indonesian industries have maintained strong ties for several years, allowing us today to go further with the creation of joint structures to develop cutting-edge defence technologies together, such as the joint venture between Thales and PT Len for the production and maintenance of surveillance radars,”M. Lecornu stated from Jakarta.
False Start
While other countries—such as South Korea—have not received any notable official visits since the beginning of the decade, Indonesia has benefited from annual trips and meetings between ministers and presidents since the end of the pandemic. Emmanuel Macron and M. Lecornu visited the archipelago in November 2022 for the G20 summit in Bali, while M. Subianto was received with full honors at the Élysée in the summer of 2023, and again in 2024—for a 2.5-hour meeting on the eve of the Olympic Games. The only minor hiccup was the absence of any high-ranking French official at M. Subianto’s inauguration in October 2024, which reportedly disappointed Jakarta, according to the investigative website Intelligence Online.
Not to cause turbulence: the same media outlet revealed in mid-January that M. Subianto has been invited to the July 14, 2025, military parade, and multiple sources now confirm to Le Point that preparations are underway for a visit by the French president to Indonesia this year—possibly following the major Indo-Pacific security forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue, where M. Macron is invited to deliver the opening speech at the end of May. “This is the logical continuation of a well-paced evolution of the relationship,” comments Céline Pajon, an Indo-Pacific specialist at Ifri (the French Institute of International Relations). Another key objective of Sébastien Lecornu’s visit was to advance the signing of an agreement governing reciprocal military visits, such as the deployment of French naval vessels or the training of Indonesian Rafale pilots in France.
“There are discussions for the signing of a SOFA [Status of Forces Agreement, a treaty governing the presence of partner forces on each other’s territory, for example, for training exercises—Ed.] and a VFA [Visiting Forces Agreement, which regulates matters such as port calls—Ed.],” confirms the researcher. “Until now, exchanges were organised on a case-by-case basis.” In autumn, however, Intelligence Online reported minor but sensitive sticking points regarding intelligence-sharing. Nothing insurmountable.
Stepping Up
Paris is trying to convince Jakarta to take things to the next level. “The idea now is to highlight the similarities between Indonesia’s neutral stance between China and the United States and France’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which aims to counter bloc politics,” explains Ms. Pajon. The La Pérouse exercises, which brought together nine nations to enhance security in Indonesia’s straits, served as a showcase for this approach. However, getting countries like Indonesia—one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War—to participate in such cooperation isn’t always easy. Jakarta remains cautious about visibly aligning with Western navies. “Just a few years ago, Jakarta was still criticising Western nations for sending warships into the region,” recalls Benjamin Blandin, a maritime security expert at the Institut Catholique de Paris.
Despite its past hesitations, the archipelagic state has agreed to have the two Atlantique 2 aircraft accompanying the carrier strike group operate from an airbase near Jakarta as part of the La Pérouse exercise, and to carry Indonesian observers during their flights. “The signing of a defence industrial cooperation agreement would make sense for the years to come,” predicts this researcher based in the region. “It would notably lay the groundwork for the sale of vessels like frigates and corvettes.” However, France is not the only one benefiting from this increased openness. Burned by China’s encroachments in the South China Sea, Indonesia is now allowing American B-52H bombers with nuclear capabilities to fly over its airspace and has accepted the delivery of numerous maritime surveillance drones and radar systems provided by the United States (US).
Paris, however, has a clear advantage over Washington by avoiding picking a side in the New Cold War. “France is not perceived the same way as the United States and China,” says Alban Sciascia, a consultant and researcher specialising in defence issues, whose consulting firm is based in Jakarta. “This is the first time a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has docked in Indonesia. The USS Reagan anchored in Bali in July 2023, but the stop was cut short.” Another advantage in France’s hands is the stability of French contracts, which are not subject to political conditions, unlike those from the US. “France has a strong card to play, especially in Indonesia, thanks to the absence of usage restrictions in our offers, which the Americans can impose,” argues M. Sciascia. “In Indonesia, there are no limits, but it’s important to take your time.”