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Mark Esper invites Prabowo to US for defense talks
Prabowo had been banned from the country for nearly two decades.
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Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto waves at journalists as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (unseen) unveils his new Cabinet on the steps of Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 23, 2019. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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efense Minister Prabowo Subianto has been invited to the United States for a discussion of defense cooperation between the two countries, a ministry spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
“US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has invited Prabowo to visit the US from Oct. 15 to 19,” Defense Ministry spokesman Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak wrote in a statement.
He added that Prabowo had accepted the invitation and was set to travel to the US for the official visit.
“In accordance with Indonesia’s principle of ‘free and active’ foreign policy and non-involvement in military alliances with any country [...], Minister Prabowo has been actively engaged in defense diplomacy with various countries, including the US," the statement read.
It is uncertain whether the invitation means that Washington has or will grant a visa to Prabowo, a retired three-star army general who has long been barred from the US because of allegations of human rights abuses.
Read also: Prabowo’s past US travel ban haunts Indonesia arms procurement
Prabowo was included in a blanket ban on the Indonesian Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) for alleged human rights violations in East Timor when the territory was under Indonesian rule.
In 2000, Prabowo was prevented from attending the graduation of his son in Boston, Massachusetts. Reuters reported that in 2012, he was again denied a visa by the US.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, a politician from the Gerindra Party of which Prabowo is chairman, said in October 2019 that he believed the ban had been lifted.
The US Embassy in Jakarta previously said that visa records were confidential under US law and the details of individual visa cases could not be disclosed.
Military observers have said that the travel ban against Prabowo may affect the minister's decisions in procuring arms to fulfill the Minimum Essential Force (MEF) provision.
Online news outlet Politico reported on Tuesday that the US State Department had decided to grant a visa to Prabowo, citing a source familiar with the issue. The department's spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, Politico journalist Nahal Toosi said.
