The United States recently signed an agreement with Indonesia to allow joint research for the possible return of Americans missing from fighting in that country during World War II.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said the agreement culminated "years of coordination" between Indonesia and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which has operations in Hawaii, as well as the embassy defense attache office, and furthers "deep defense cooperation" between the two countries.

The accord allows the DPAA to research the whereabouts of more than 2,000 missing American personnel who fought overwhelming Japanese forces in what was known as the Dutch East Indies during World War II.

"This signing establishes the partnership that will enable us to accomplish this noble mission and help bring closure to the many families who are still waiting," U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Kelly McKeague, DPAA’s deputy director, said in a release.

Due to human rights abuses, Washington curbed military ties with Indonesia during the 1990s, but started ramping them up again after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

A predecessor organization of DPAA conducted a remains recovery operation in Irian Jaya in 1999, said the defense organization.

Maj. Natasha Waggoner, a DPAA spokeswoman, said the new terms allow the United States "to conduct joint research (with Indonesia) under a formal arrangement," adding, "There are currently no cases developed in Indonesia which warrant field investigation and/or excavation and no plans to conduct a ‘mission’ — only a research initiative at this time."

Two shipwrecks were located within the territorial waters of Indonesia, including the heavy cruiser USS Houston, sunk in March 1942 in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 possible remains, and the USS Pope, a destroyer that was sunk the same month and year and has 28 possible remains, according to DPAA.

Approximately 250 missing U.S. personnel are associated with land losses, according to the agency.

In June 2014, as part of the exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, U.S. Navy divers from Hawaii-based Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, along with personnel from the Indonesian navy, surveyed a wreck in the Java Sea found to be "consistent" with the USS Houston.

The Navy noted that while the ship was a popular recreational dive site, and items had been removed, it was also a war grave.

"We’re grateful for the support of our Indonesian partners in determining the condition of the USS Houston," Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., then commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said last August. "In my discussions with our Indonesian navy partners, they share our sense of obligation to protect this and other gravesites."

All expenses related to the research and any eventual recoveries will be funded by the United States, the embassy said.

"U.S.-Indonesia defense cooperation has never been stronger or more comprehensive than it is today, and we are proud to be Indonesia’s top defense partner in joint exercises and other engagements," said U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation and has a key location straddling the Indian Ocean-Pacific Ocean divide. The Hawaii National Guard has a "state partnership" with Indonesia, and Guard and active-duty 25th Infantry Division troops train with Indonesian counterparts.