Anthony Albanese will push for closer defence ties with Indonesia when he holds formal talks in Jakarta with President Prabowo Subianto.
The prime minister arrived in the capital on Wednesday for his first bilateral meeting with a world leader since winning a second term in office at the federal election.
While the formal one-on-one meetings are taking place on Thursday, the prime minister was greeted by Mr Subianto at his hotel on Wednesday night.
Mr Albanese said the informal discussions were a sign of the closeness between the two countries, and he was looking to strengthen the partnership during the visit.
"We had a really good chat about elections, about the state of the world, and it was very it was a great honour, and we certainly saw it as such," he told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.
"It said something about the depth of the relationship and the extent of the friendship and warm relationship between our two nations."
The prime minister said defence partnerships, global security and trade would be the focus of discussions between the two leaders.
"We're talking about further strengthening our defence ties, and also how we put our economic partnership, how we can build on that with investment," he said.
"We're building our capability and defence arrangements and security arrangements with countries like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and other countries in our region."
Reports emerged during the election campaign that Russia had requested to operate long-range military aircraft from an Indonesian base.
Mr Albanese said every senior official in the Indonesian government had reassured their Australian counterparts it wasn't happening.
"We make very clear our position when it comes to Russia around the world, be it the brutal invasion of Ukraine, its interference in cyber security issues as well, its tolerance of criminal organisations that have been involved in that, are an anathema to our values," he said.
"We'll continue to stand up for Australian values, and that is something that we'll do, both domestically, but right around the world."
The prime minister is travelling with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as part of the Australian delegation.
Security experts have warned Australia to heed Indonesia's concerns about the AUKUS deal and growing US military presence in the region, which Jakarta viewed as increasing strategic competition.
The prime minister will fly to Rome after his trip to Jakarta to attend Pope Leo XIV's inauguration mass on Sunday.
He will return to Australia next week, after he sits down with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday.