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View all search resultsPrabowo cuts ASEAN trip short after whirlwind tour
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President Prabowo Subianto attends the 28th ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit on Monday during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP/Pool/Vincent Thian)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto has returned to Jakarta from Malaysia ahead of schedule, following a busy weekend at the ASEAN Summit, which saw Southeast Asian leaders sit down with United States President Donald Trump to hash out new deals, the United Nations chief call for an end to violence in Myanmar and the welcoming of the bloc's 11th member Timor-Leste after a 14-year wait.
The region’s premier geopolitical forum, which brings together ASEAN member states, their 11 dialogue partners and a number of special appearances on the summit’s margins, is being held at a time of vast global disruption due in part to negotiations over Trump’s “world tariffs”, which has forced countries to reassess their options to stay afloat amid global economic headwinds.
Initially planning to stay for the entirety of the three-day summit, Prabowo decided to cut his trip short on Monday afternoon after attending three sessions: the 26th ASEAN-South Korea summit, the 28th ASEAN Plus Three summit and a reception commemorating Timor-Leste’s entry into the regional grouping.
Following Prabowo’s abrupt departure, he is being represented by several of his cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Sugiono and Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto.
While the State Secretariat and the Presidential Palace did not respond to requests for comment, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang claimed that Prabowo returned because of a busy domestic agenda between the ASEAN summit and the upcoming APEC summit.
A day prior, Prabowo attended the ASEAN-US summit, where President Trump pledged to be “100 percent” committed to the region while emphasizing his interest in deepening economic and security cooperation with ASEAN.
Trump signed deals with four ASEAN member states and met Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said on the summit’s sidelines that Trump had "guaranteed" that the two countries would reach a deal on trade, Reuters reported.
