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US, Russia compete in Jakarta amid RI’s rising profile
A plan to upgrade Russian-Indonesian ties would put Moscow on par with the United States, which signed its own strategic partnership with Indonesia in 2015.
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD (right) exchanges letters of agreement with the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, during a meeting in Jakarta on Dec. 14. The Russian senior official's visit to Jakarta coincided with a pit stop by United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Indonesian capital. (Courtesy of the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister/-)
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ndonesia played host to senior officials from Washington and Moscow to discuss various strategic issues this week, in what analysts say was a clear example of how the country's prominence in the Indo-Pacific was boosted after assuming the Group of 20 presidency this month.
When he landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Monday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s entourage found out belatedly that a plane carrying Nikolay Patrushev, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, was already parked nearby.
Later that day, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took turns receiving the two senior officials for courtesy visits in back-to-back meetings, before their respective counterparts in Jakarta hosted bilateral talks on Tuesday.
It was unclear whether Blinken and Patrushev met or even acknowledged each other’s presence in the Indonesian capital, especially after Blinken joined a Group of Seven meeting in England that passed a resolution on Ukraine against Russia.
As the third most senior official in Russia’s government, Patrushev met with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD for the sixth Indonesian-Russian bilateral consultations on security matters, during which they discussed upgrading bilateral ties.
The two sides finalized a draft declaration for a strategic partnership – which will be signed when Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Jokowi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit later next year – along with agreements on mutual extradition and visa regimes. As host, Jokowi is expected to meet all G20 leaders, including US President Joe Biden.
A strategic partnership with Russia would put the European giant on par with the US, which signed a similar agreement with Indonesia in 2015.
