Tokyo, Aug. 26 (Jiji Press)--The defense ministers of Japan, Australia and Indonesia agreed to deepen defense cooperation among the three countries, in their first-ever trilateral talks on Wednesday. The three ministers, Shinjiro Koizumi of Japan, Richard Marles of Australia and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin of Indonesia, reached the agreement in phone talks. Japan has been working to strengthen defense cooperation in areas including equipment with Australia and Indonesia, which signed a bilateral security treaty in February. Indonesia has also reinforced military ties with China. Japan and Australia apparently aim to bring Indonesia close to them to counter China's increasingly assertive maritime activities. "The environment surrounding us is growing rapidly more complex," Koizumi told lawmakers in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party after the phone talks, highlighting the need to boost the country's deterrence and response capabilities. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]