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Prabowo to visit US for first time in decades
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early one year after being appointed as a Defense Minister by his political rival, former Army general Prabowo Subianto is leaving for the United States this week to meet his US counterpart Mark Esper; quite a diplomatic achievement after years of being barred entry to the country.
Prabowo had long been banned from visiting the US because of allegations of human rights abuses. He was included in a blanket ban on the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) for alleged human rights violations in East Timor when the territory was under Indonesian rule.
The minister talked about the five-day visit to the US starting on Thursday in a video released by the Gerindra Party on Tuesday, confirming that he was accepting the invitation because he considered the US an important country.
"America is an important country and I was invited, so I must fulfill the invitation," Prabowo said, "even though we will have a long journey, [especially with] the COVID-19 pandemic, we still have to respect [the invitation]."
As the US renews its diplomatic campaign against China in the Indo-Pacific theater, Esper has expressed his intention of visiting Indonesia to strengthen cooperation through arms sales, citing good relations between the US and Indonesia, and he has spoken with Prabowo several times this year.
Prabowo went on to say he had reported the invitation to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who asked him to leave for the US.
"I went to the President. I reported, 'Pak, I got an invitation from the US' and he said, 'yes, you have to go.' So, we are going," he said.
Last year, Jokowi’s decision to name Prabowo to lead the Defense Ministry raised many eyebrows, given the former general’s position as Jokowi’s opponent during the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections and his role as a staunch critic of the government over the previous five years.
However, since then, the President has backed the minister’s decisions and maneuvers, including his overseas trips where he has met with counterparts from China, Russia and other countries, saying they were diplomatic meetings aimed at bolstering Indonesia’s defense sector.
He has also supported Prabowo’s efforts to modernize Indonesia’s weapons system, saying that such a move was necessary to counter wide-ranging security challenges going forward.
Prior to finally visiting the US this week, Prabowo has visited Moscow twice, in January and in June to attend the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, during which he also met with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe. Prabowo met Wei again in Jakarta in September.
Prabowo’s spokesman and aide Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said the visit to the US was “in accordance with Indonesia’s principle of a ‘free and active’ foreign policy and noninvolvement in military alliances with any country.”
Prabowo is also scheduled to visit Austria later this month to discuss the possible purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters, according to a leaked letter from Prabowo to his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner dated Oct. 8.
“We are in the middle of procuring vital [defense] equipment to protect our national territory and citizens, thus following [up on] our proposal [regarding] the Austrian Eurofighter [aircraft],” Prabowo said in the letter, a copy of which was received by The Jakarta Post from an Austrian source.
He is also rumored to be planning visits to France, Germany and Turkey, although there is no official confirmation yet from the Defense Ministry.
The series of visits is believed to be aimed at cementing deals for the procurement of weaponry and for defense industry cooperation to help domestic companies meet the so-called Minimum Essential Force (MEF) targets by 2024.
