Joint Russia sea drills signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new President Prabowo Subianto will seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts say.

Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta.

“It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter Pandie, researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The southeast Asian ASEAN bloc, which Indonesia is a member of, held joint exercises with Russia in 2021, but Jakarta has never held drills alone with Moscow.

Jakarta has billion-dollar trade ties with Moscow, but major arms imports have stalled in recent years, according to weapons watchdog SIPRI, following Western sanctions on Russia after it seized Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

Still, Prabowo kept alive a $1.1 billion Russian fighter jet deal agreed in 2018 when he was appointed defence minister a year later, despite the reported threat of US sanctions.

Jakarta also refused to budge when Western nations lobbied Indonesia to disinvite Russia from the G20 summit it hosted in 2022.

Prabowo met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in July, later announcing joint naval drills that experts say indicate how Moscow will grow in significance as part of a broader foreign policy.

The five-day drills begin Monday in eastern Java where Moscow will send three corvette-class warships, a medium tanker ship, a military helicopter, and a tug boat. “They reaffirm that we will not alienate one or two countries in the geopolitical arena,” said Anton Aliabbas, an assistant professor at the Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy.

During his Kremlin visit, Prabowo — a 73-year-old ex-general — said he wanted to deepen the relationship with Russia.