Indonesia's and Russia's respective navies will hold a joint exercise for the first time.
The exercise will take place shortly, in early November.
Indonesia has formally a neutral stance in foreign policy and claims not to want to take a stand in the ongoing major wars in the world. However, the Southeast Asian country's new president, Prabowo Subianto, says he wants a more prominent position than his predecessors. In July, he visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The naval exercise will be conducted in the Java Sea, near a naval base in Surabaya. Russia is sending, among other things, three corvettes and a tanker.
It's about strengthening the capabilities and potential of our two navies, says Russia's ambassador to Indonesia, Sergey Toltjenov.
