According to analysts, Indonesia’s second joint military exercises with Russia this week indicate that Jakarta may seek a bigger role on the global stage as a result of a major change in its foreign policy.
In spite of American pressure on Jakarta, Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Indonesia’s long-standing foreign policy and its refusal to take factors in the Russia-Ukraine issue or US-China conflict.
As long as there is a profit for Indonesia, Pieter Pandie, scientist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said,” It is element of a broader objective to enhance relations withwhoever it may be, regardless of their political union.”
In 2021, the south Asian ASEAN union, which includes Indonesia, conducted joint exercises with Russia, but Jakarta has not conducted joint exercises with Moscow.
Despite having billion-dollar trade relations with Moscow, significant arms exports have stalled in recent years, according to arms guardian SIPRI, as a result of American sanctions against Russia after it seized Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale military offensive against Ukraine in 2022.
Despite the rumored hazard of US restrictions, Prabowo kept alive a US$ 1.1 billion Russian fighter plane agreement that was signed when he was appointed defence secretary a year later.
Jakarta even resisted agissant when Western powers pressed Indonesia to avert Russia’s detention at the G20 summit it hosted in 2022.
Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Prabowo met at the Kremlin in July, and the latter two announced joint naval exercises that experts believe will show how Moscow will gain more value as a part of a broader international policy.
The five-day maneuvers begin Monday in southeast Java where Moscow did give three corvette-class ships, a moderate ship deliver, a military aircraft, and a tug boat.
According to Anton Aliabbas, an associate professor at the Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy,” they reaffirm that we will never alienate one or two nations in the political arena.”