Indonesia-Russia to Hold Joint Military Training

Jakarta, MINA – Russia plans to hold a first military training with Indonesia. The Russian Ambassador in Jakarta, Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobieva, said the war games were initiated as a strengthening of defense cooperation between the two countries at the age of 70 years of bilateral relations.

“More than 40 events are planned to take place this year, especially in the context of Indonesia-Russia military cooperation. For example, we hope that the first Indonesia-Russia military exercise will take place this year,” Vorobieva said in an exclusive interview with CNNIndonesia on Tuesday, February 6.

Vorobieva said the military exercises would involve the Indonesian and Russian navies. A number of Russian warships will visit and train in Indonesian waters.

According to Vorobieva, it was an ordinary military exercise that Russia had done with other countries before. However, he did not explain the details of when and where the war games took place.

“As far as I know, this military exercise covers the navies of the two countries and there will be several Russian warships deployed to Indonesia to take part in this exercise,” Vorobieva said.

In addition to military exercises between the two countries, Vorobieva revealed that Russia planned to hold joint military exercises with ASEAN.

Russia, she explained will also provide scholarships for Indonesian Military personnel to train at their military education sites.

The closeness of the two countries’ defense cooperation, said Vorobieva, was also evident from the recent visit of Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to Moscow to meet Russian Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu.

During the meeting, Shoigu expressed Russia’s interest in strengthening strategic partnerships with Indonesia. He even considered that Indonesia was one of Russia’s most important partners in the Asia Pacific region.

Regarding the partnership agreement, Vorobieva hopes that the declaration of a strategic partnership between Indonesia and Russia can be signed this year.

However, it is not certain that the partnership can be signed directly by the two leaders of the country because she is not yet sure whether President Vladimir Putin will visit Jakarta this year.

“I still cannot confirm President Putin’s visit at this time because we are facing considerable domestic political developments related to constitutional reform. So, President Putin is currently focused on the domestic agenda,” Vorobieva said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)