Indonesia and Russia began their first joint naval exercises on Monday, November 4, at a time when the president of this Southeast Asian archipelago wants to strengthen Jakarta’s role on the world stage.
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These exercises, lasting five days, are taking place in two phases in eastern Java, where Russia is to send three corvettes, a tanker, a military helicopter and a tugboat. According to local television channels, the Russian ships were welcomed with a fanfare on Sunday at a port in the town of Subraya, the day before the start of the exercises.
Jakarta has long favored a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take a clear side in the war between Russia andUkraine or to choose between China and the United States, two great rival powers. But the new president Prabowo Subianto called for a strengthening of relations with Moscow despite Western pressure.
Indonesia, a “ average balancing power on the chessboard of international relations »
This general, former minister of Defense, is a supporter of a policy that is not aligned on the international scene, as explained by Alban Sciascia, director of the security consulting company PT Semar Sentinel in Jakarta.
“ This type of exercise completely corresponds to the Indonesian political orientation which is that of a non-aligned country, and it is undoubtedly part of this desire to play a role as a middle power of balance on the chessboard of international relations. You should know that on the Indonesian side, there is this perception of things by saying, it is very pragmatic. What is Indonesia’s interest? At the moment, apparently, it would be to have this relationship with Russia with which there have been discussions on different aspects of cooperation, particularly in the context of energy and investments that could take place in Indonesia “, he explains.
Alban Sciascia adds: “ When we see the way Russia behaves strategically on the Ukrainian front, we can ask ourselves the question of what is in Indonesia’s interest. Are we not rather here in an exercise which will be very restrictive and limiting in operational terms and which will rather push, we will say, the two countries to check a box within the framework of their cooperation . As such, I think that we are more about a cooperation that could perhaps be described as a facade, but which gets people talking and which should make people talk and make people think, but which will not bring much to the world. ‘Indonesia. »
Joint exercises with Russia in 2021
L’AseanwhoseIndonesia is a member, has already participated in joint military exercises with Russia in 2021, but Jakarta has never before organized bilateral maneuvers with Moscow.
Jakarta has billions of dollars of trade ties with Russia, but its arms imports have stagnated in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), following Western sanctions imposed to Russia after the invasion of Crimea in 2014 and Ukraine in 2022.
However, Prabowo Subianto kept a potential $1.1 billion deal for Russian fighter jets, concluded in 2018, on the table, despite the threat of US sanctions.
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