Biden To Announce CSP With Indonesia, "Deepen Engagement" With SE Asia

A Senior Biden Administration official has told reporters that President Biden will announce a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement with Indonesia during a bilateral meeting today with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

• The official states: "...this visit is going to be really consequential... at this visit, we'll be taking our partnership to a truly new level, announcing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is Indonesia's highest partnership tier."
• The official says the agreement, "builds upon our deep engagement in Southeast Asia and the fact that we're doing new and consequential things with many of that region's leaders," noting a CSP with Vietnam signed by President Biden in Hanoi on September 10. The official says that the US will look to increase cooperation on critical minerals and on bolstering semiconductor supply chains.
• Indonesia has become an increasingly valuable partner in the White House drive to diversify supply chains and de-risk from China, but today's meeting is likely to overshadowed by Israel-Gaza war. Widodo, the first leader from a majority Muslim country to visit the White House since the start of the war, condemned Israel during a stopover in Saudi Arabia en route to Washington.
• The New York Times notes, "Mr. Biden’s advisers are hoping that diplomatic comity can withstand tensions over Gaza," but "their differences over the war in Gaza are likely to shape the Indonesian leader’s visit to Washington."
• Biden and Widodo will meet at the White House at 16:00 ET 21:00 GMT. They will not hold a press conference or deliver remarks.