"President Subianto welcomed sustained US support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific," according to an excerpt from the Joint Statement released by the White House, following a bilateral meeting between Prabowo and President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Nov 12), culled from Antara.

Prabowo also acknowledged the value of regional and sub-regional mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions working with ASEAN on specific areas of common interests.

During the meeting, both leaders committed to working together to support an open, inclusive, rules-based, and ASEAN-centered regional architecture that upholds international law.

The statement also emphasized Indonesia and the US's commitment to upholding freedom of navigation and overflight as well as respect for sovereign rights and jurisdiction of coastal states over their exclusive economic zones in accordance with the international law of the sea, as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"Indonesia and the US also recognized the importance of the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," it said.

Prabowo and Biden expressed support for ASEAN efforts to develop an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea that adheres to international law, in particular, UNCLOS, and respects the rights and interests of third parties.

"The leaders note the ruling of the 2016 arbitral tribunal, constituted pursuant to UNCLOS," it said.

President Prabowo's meeting with President Biden at the White House in Washington D.C. on Tuesday was part of the celebration of the 75 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the US.

(ANT/BR)