Scott Morrison’s key talks to placate Joko Widodo on nuclear subs

Scott Morrison is planning a vital meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo that will cover sensitivities about Australia’s plan to acquire nuclear submarines.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Scott Morrison in Canberra in February 2020. Picture: Getty Images

Scott Morrison is planning a vital meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo that will cover sensitivities about Australia’s plan to acquire nuclear submarines and the Covid-19 pandemic devastation in the region.

The Prime Minister is leaving on Thursday to first attend the G20 meeting in Rome, which is expected to include a bilateral meeting with Mr Joko in the “margins” of the economic summit, and then go to the Glasgow climate-change conference.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the Australian and Indonesian leaders since the real onslaught of the pandemic last year and the formation of the Australia, UK and US strategic agreement to supply nuclear sub­mar­ines to Australia.

In his first comments on the pact, Mr Joko said Indonesia was worried about the development of Australian nuclear-powered submarines triggering heightened regional rivalry and that ASEAN and Australia must continue to build trust to jointly contribute to maintaining regional stability and peace through “ the power of cooperation and dialogue”.

“We must be able to build a culture of conflict into a culture of peace, a trust deficit into strategic trust,” Mr Joko said in a statement.

He said Indonesia did not want a regional arms race. But, he added: “ Indonesia provides full support for the status of the ASEAN-Australia relationship to become a comprehensive strategic partnership.”

Mr Morrison on Wednesday assured nervous ASEAN neighbours that Australia remained committed to nuclear non-proliferation and that the AUKUS pact would aid regional security.

Speaking at the first annual ASEAN-Australian dialogue – part of a three-day online summit hosted by the 10-nation bloc – Mr Morrison said the trilateral pact with the US and UK “does not change Australia’s commitment to ASEAN or the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific”.

“Indeed, it reinforces it. It reinforces the backing we have for an ASEAN-led regional architecture,” he said. “These commitments are stronger than ever. AUKUS adds to our network of partnerships that support regional stability and security.”

Mr Morrison also announced 10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Australia’s domestic supply would be delivered to ASEAN member states by mid next year, and $124m to fund projects jointly identified by Australia and ASEAN to “address complex and emerging challenges” such as Covid-19 recovery, terrorism and energy security. An additional $4.5m has also been earmarked to support the Covid-19 response in Myanmar, which has been mired in crisis since the February 1 military coup and subsequent violent security crackdown on dissent.

Mr Morrison has personally spoken to Southeast Asian leaders since the AUKUS announcement last month to assure them that Australia – as a non-nuclear state – was committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and that any future submarines would be nuclear-propelled, not nuclear armed.

That has not assuaged all member states, with Indonesia and Malaysia raising concerns over the potential for nuclear proliferation.

While Mr Morrison is planning to meet Mr Joko in Rome to discuss the submarines, it is unlikely he will have a separate meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron who has refused to take phone calls since Australia cancelled the $90bn contract for French diesel submarines.

The AUKUS agreement last month to place eight nuclear submarines in Australian waters by 2040 as a deterrent to China caused “deep concern” in Indonesia.

The Indonesian foreign ministry put out a statement that said: “Indonesia is deeply concerned over the continuing arms race and power projection in the region.”

On Wednesday, Mr Morrison said he did not think he would meet Mr Macron in either Rome or Glasgow because Australia needed to give him “some space”.

“We had to take the decision we took in the national interest and maybe we’ll catch up at some time down the track. Sometimes it’s just best to give our friends a bit of space,” he said.