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Prabowo’s past US travel ban haunts Indonesia arms procurement
There is one notable omission from Prabowo’s world tour: the United States, despite its historical role as Indonesia’s biggest supplier of military hardware.
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All ready: Technicians carry out maintenance activities on several Sukhoi aircraft at Iswahjudi Airbase in Magetan, East Java, on March 30. (Antara/Siswo Widodo)
S
ince being appointed defense minister in October, Prabowo has visited several countries in an effort to modernize the Indonesian Military and strengthen defense diplomacy in general.
His latest destination was the United Arab Emirates, where he signed a defense cooperation agreement with his counterpart Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi on Feb. 24.
The visits to various countries, including China, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Germany and France, were meant to fulfill the Minimum Essential Force (MEF) provision by scouting for and procuring weapons systems from those countries.
However, there is one notable omission from Prabowo’s world tour: the United States, despite its historical role as the country’s biggest supplier of military hardware.
Prabowo, a retired three-star army general, has been barred from visiting the US because of alleged human rights abuses. This leads to questions about whether such treatment will affect his arms procurement decisions as he seeks to fulfill the MEF.
The question came up last month amid reports that Indonesia was delaying its decision to buy Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 heavy fighter jets, although the original deal had been struck by Prabowo’s predecessor, Ryamizard Ryacudu, in 2016. The US – which is eager to sell its own fighter jets, the lightweight model of which is the F-16 – is believed to be putting pressure on Indonesia to abandon the Russian deal.
Read also: Sukhoi deal hangs in balance amid US pressure
