Australia has indicated that any joint military exercises with both China and the United States were not remote possibilities following suggestions floated recently by the Indonesian President.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Bali last weekend, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recommended to the Australian leader the possibility of conducting trilateral military training with U.S. and Chinese forces.

The move, according to the Indonesian leader, should remove any notion that Canberra is gravitating towards Washington in pursuit of forging an alliance that could counter the political rise of China in the Asia Pacific region.

It should also appease China, Yudhoyono added, which currently is Australia's biggest trading partner and promote at the same time that Ms Gillard is engaging every country as a matter of her government's foreign policy.

Prior to the Indonesian proposal, America has announced its plan to station some 2500 U.S. Marines in the northwest coast of Australia by 2017, which both Canberra and Washington said was an affirmation of the two nations' long-established security ties that date back to the 1930s.

The announcement, however, was criticised by both Beijing and Jakarta, with the latter, through its Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, declaring that the heightened military pact between the U.S. and Australia could sparked "vicious circle of tensions and mistrust in the region."

While Indonesia's idea seems odd, Defence Minister Stephen Smith welcomed the suggestion and stressed that "it's a positive suggestion and one which I think in the longer term could fall for serious consideration."

"We don't see it as something which would necessarily occur in the short-term but it's a good suggestion, it's an interesting suggestion," Smith was quoted by Agence France Presse as saying on Tuesday.

Smith also noted that Australia has had previous experiences of joint training with Chinese forces last year and "we're working very hard with China and the People's Liberation Army to do precisely that," which he said could further improve the country's ties with Beijing.

On its part, the United States appears open to the Indonesian brainchild despite apparent tensions raging between the two world powers.

"For the broad brushstrokes yes, we want to work more with the Chinese military and we're looking for opportunities to cooperate with all countries in the region," The Australian quoted American Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich as commenting on the matter.