ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The Minister of Defense and elected President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto made a state visit to Moscow’s Kremlin On July 31 2024 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. There, he emphasized the 75 years of harmonious diplomatic relations between the two countries. For the younger generation who are focused on the latest technology a historical perspective must be developed and they mustbe willing to study the history of the two countries.
The close relationship between Indonesia and Russia, then the Soviet Union, was built by Indonesia’s first President, Soekarno. In 1946, representatives of the Soviet Union raised the “Indonesia Question” at the UN Security Council that resulted in Dutch recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty. Even furtherin the past, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tsar Nicholas II visited the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and assigned Modest Bakunin as the first and only Consul General of the Russian Empire in Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1894.
After independence from Dutch colonialism, the Vice President of the United Republic of Indonesia and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Hatta, received a telegram message from the Soviet Union via the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrew Vyshinsky. In the short message, Vyshinsky acknowledged Indonesia’s independence and gave an invitation to establish diplomatic relations. In 1954, the two countries opened diplomatic representative offices in Indonesia and the Soviet Union.
The Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, in 1960, emphasized that he would support Indonesia in the fields of development and economics. President Soekarno even asked for help from the Soviet Union to build a stadium, a multi-sports complex in Jakarta to support the 4th Asian Games in 1962. The construction of the stadium was funded through a soft loan from the Soviet Union worth USD 12.7 million. The Soviet Union sent engineers and technicians to design the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium. Khrushchev was present at the first pile-raising on February 8, 1960.
The four engined Ivchenko AI-20 M turboprop aircraft with a cruising range of up to seven thousand kilometers carried Nikita Khrushchev to explore Jakarta, as well as other regions in Indonesia such as Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Ambon. During his visit, Khrushchev was impressed by Indonesia’s natural beauty and tropical climate, as well as the richness of Indonesia’s flora and fauna. He ate tropical Indonesian fruit during his visit, and made a promise to help Soekarno realise the Trans Kalimantan highway, part of the first phase of the Universal National Development Plan (RPNSB), 1961-1969.
The construction of the freeway section known as the Kalimantan Road Project (Projakal) was part of Soekarno’s plan to move the capital as the center of government from Jakarta to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. The city of Palangkaraya was the result of Soekarno’s design as an architect and Khrushchev kept his promise to help Soekarno by sending dozens of architects, civil engineers and others from the Soviet Union, also sending heavy equipment, helicopters and others to start the construction process. Construction of an axis road from Palangkaraya to Pangkalan Bun for a distance of 450 kilometers. The implementation agreement was made in Moscow on September 11, 1956.
Then Khrushchev commissioned a husband and wife team of architects, Alexander Yuryevich Kovalchuk and Lena Muhametrakimovna Kovalchuk to design the construction of the road, following their success in building roads through swamps in Mongolia. This was the hardest challenge for Soviet architects at that time because they had to cut through the forest, and then dig through the layers of peat to build a stable foundation for the new road. Soviet construction workers also helped build the Samarinda to Balikpapan road, East Kalimantan, covering a distance of 115 kilometers, as well as the Tanjung to Kuaro road, South Kalimantan, covering a distance of 126 kilometers. It took five years to complete the construction projects on Kalimantan Island.
After almost half a century, the people of Kalimantan still call the section of road built by Soviet construction workers the “Russian Road” and it still functions as a land transportation route to this day. The landmarks left by the Soviet Union in Indonesia are not only stadiums and highways, but also the Friendship Hospital in Jakarta, the Krakatau Steel factory in Cilegon and the Yuri Gagarin statue which is a silent witness to the close relationship between the two countries for 75 years.
The future of Indo – Pacific?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once stated that Russia always encourages ASEAN to strengthen its role in maintaining stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region. Together with China, Russia has long criticized the foreign intervention into the local affairs of the Asia-Pacific region. However, Russia itself intervened in January 2023 by sending the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, carrying hypersonic missiles, to waters very close to the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. In January 2024, Russia intervened again, this time with the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate, carrying 27 KA-27 helicopters, torpedoes and other heavy weapons.
Although Vietnam and the Philippines have been the most vocal about China’s expansion into the South China Sea, this dispute is a threat to Indonesia’s sovereignty as well. Indonesia has been dragged into the South China Sea dispute since 2010, when China claimed Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Natuna Islands. Naturally, Indonesia is defending its longstanding claims in this region.
In 2020, China asked Indonesia to stop drilling for oil and natural gas in this region, which has long been recognized as within Indonesia’s EEZ. The South China Morning Post noted that China made the submission because it felt the area belonged to it. Meanwhile, Indonesia relied on the established determination by UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) that the southern tip of the South China Sea is within its EEZ. In 2017, Indonesia named the area the South Natuna Sea. China continues to make a claim to the 10-dash line despite this claim being found to have no legal basis by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands in 2016. Due to this slowly escalating conflict, Prabowo Subianto, in his role as Minister of Defense, strengthened Indonesia’s defense with an USD 8.8 billion purchase of fighter jets from the United States, Russia and France in 2023.
Amid the heating up of the South China Sea dispute, Russia first arrived with frigates and sophisticated military equipment. Then the AUKUS trilateral defense alliance emerged, consisting of the United States, England, and Australia. AUKUS even invited Japan as a candidate member to stem China’s influence with Russian support in the Indo-Pacific. Even South Korea has supported AUKUS. However, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries view the AUKUS trilateral defense alliance as impractical and unlikely to make good on its commitments if challenged. Indonesia does not want AUKUS to drive an escalation that could involve hypersonic weapons that would threaten the security of the ASEAN region. Indonesia also maintains a foreign policy that puts emphasis on good relations with its neighbors, and on a unified ASEAN region, and that maintains disciplined non-alignment with distant powers.
Indonesia Didn’t Join the BRICS?
BRICS is a coalition of developing countries established by Russia, Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. Over time, Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, have also been welcomed into this coalition. BRICS aims to promote cooperation between developing countries in the fields of economics, trade, politics and social development.
BRICS was initiated by Russia in 2009 to create a counterweight against the G7 group of developed economies. Although Indonesia would seem a natural fit for this group, Indonesia adheres to a longstanding principle of not intervening in competition between countries that are competing for influence. Indonesia focuses more on world peace and global development than on supporting unproductive rivalries.
However, for developing countries in Southeast Asia, BRICS can help exchange technology, knowledge and trade that are mutually beneficial to each other. The BRICS alliance countries are indeed actively promoting de-dollarization to eliminate dependence on the US dollar. This is consistent with Indonesia’s own strategy, but Indonesia does not want to be a proxy for the conflict between these blocs, as it’s a distraction from the focus on cooperation, investment and technology development.
At the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg on July 11, 2024, President Vladimir Putin declared that the BRICS economic bloc would likely form its own parliament in the future, as a way to increase its appeal to countries in the Southeast Asian region. So far, only Malaysia is interested. Malaysia has announced that it will apply for membership in the BRICS geopolitical bloc, and that the official registration process will be carried out on June 18, 2024, according to various media reports.
According to Bhima Yudhistira, Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) Research Institute in Indonesia, the potential for cooperation in investment, trade and infrastructure financing is very large, especially China and India, “Combined, the economic value of all BRICS member countries reaches more than US$ 28.5 trillion, or around 28 percent of the global economy.” Of course, the entry of ASEAN countries into BRICS will provide great benefits for China in its trade war with the United States and the South China Sea conflict. Right now, the Philippines is most affected by the South China Sea conflict and chooses to keep its distance from China, while Singapore is not yet interested in becoming a member of BRICS. Each ASEAN country has its own decision, as Vietnam chose to observe BRICS activities first. Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos have not registered for BRICS membership, although they are interested. Meanwhile, Thailand, according to Reuters through the spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry Nikorndej Balankura, has officially joined BRICS.
Russian Support for Indonesian Digital Technology
Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Indonesia, Nezar Patria, one of the young ministers who attended Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Russia. For three days Nezar Patria was in Moscow to meet with Russia’s Deputy Minister of Digital, Communications and Mass Media, Bella Cherkasova Mukharbievna. Visits were also made to Yandex, Sberbank and Kaspersky offices. According to Nezar Patria, there are many things that can be learned in Russia, all three are global technology companies. Yandex, famous for its search engine, has quite a segment in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. More than that, they are also developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, including driverless trucks which are planned to travel across Eastern Europe to China. Sberbank, one of the largest players in digital financial services, also has wings in various lines of the latest technology products. Lastly Kaspersky, a company that focuses on cyber security with a global reputation.
According to Nezar Patria, the three corporations have appreciated digital transformation in Indonesia and want to help strengthen digital talent in Indonesia. On the third day, Nezar Patria met with the Deputy Minister of Digital, Communications and Mass Media of Russia. Bella is an energetic minister whose staff is 60 percent women. This official meeting resulted in an agreement on a cooperation plan for developing digital talent in the fields of AI and cyber security in Indonesia. According to Bella, Russia is quite interested in technological and economic developments in Indonesia. “We have been two friendly countries for a long time. “Indonesia is growing quite impressively,” said Bella. We said that Indonesia is open to collaborating with all friendly countries to strengthen the digital ecosystem.
Moreover, the digital ecosystem in Indonesia is growing very rapidly. The digital transformation acceleration program in Indonesia is able to make a positive contribution to national growth in the digital sector. This is reinforced by a research collaboration between Google, Temasek and Bain & Company in 2022 which states that Indonesia has succeeded in gaining digital economic value of USD 77 billion or around IDR 1,189 trillion. If supported by the massive growth of digital economic actors, Indonesia’s digital economy is predicted to grow to USD 220 billion to USD 360 billion (IDR. 3,397 trillion – 5,559 trillion) in 2030. For this reason, the Indonesian Government through the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) seeks to improve industry and start-up businesses, as well as the digital economy in Indonesia so that it continues to grow.
Friendship between the two countries continues to be established
75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries are very long. Prabowo, when he met President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, Moscow, among other things, discussed Moscow’s plans to open a Russian Consulate General office in Bali. Based on data from the Denpasar Immigration Office, Bali in 2023, as many as 43,662 Russian citizens entered Bali during the period January to March 2023, and there were 14,328 Russian citizens who applied for residence permits in Bali, this figure was recorded from January 1 to February 22 2023.
By opening the Russian Consulate General office in Bali, it will certainly make it easier for Russian citizens who want to deal with government representatives in Bali, if an emergency occurs. Russian citizens do not have to take long-distance flights from Bali to Jakarta. The plan to open the Russian Consulate General office in Bali will certainly strengthen bilateral relations between Russia and Indonesia, as well as increase cooperation in the economic and tourism fields. Prabowo as president-elect admitted that he strongly supports more direct flights from Moscow to Bali, which has currently been opened by a Russian airline called Rossiya Airlines and is the only one operating in Indonesia.
By increasing the number of Russian airlines to Indonesia, or vice versa, Indonesia to Russia, it will encourage economic and tourism growth in both countries. Indonesia can introduce tourism products to the Russian market. On the other hand, Russia has enormous tourism potential for Indonesia. Russia is one of two European countries that has exceeded the number of tourists visiting Indonesia before the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia is also the 5th largest tourist contributor from the group of European countries. Even through government representatives; Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Russia, Jose Antonio Moratorium Tavares, the two countries Indonesia and Russia have established a lot of cooperation in the fields of trade, tourism, culture and education. Of course, this policy is a strategic and positive step in bilateral relations between the two countries. Moreover, the friendship between the two countries has existed for 75 years.
For a long time, the Russian presence in Bali was best known for drunken violations of the law and lack of sympathy and empathy towards local culture. However, in recent years, Russian citizens have flooded Bali and established a long-term presence. Canggu has a “New Moscow” neighborhood, and the Russian government has established a Consulate General in Bali. The social problems have become larger and more long-term as well. Russians are now also known for establishing businesses outside of local regulations, ranging from motorbike rentals, all the way to real estate transactions.
Many Russians choose to live in Bali for the low cost of living. Data from “Living Cost” shows that the average cost of living in Russia is US$787, while in Indonesia it is only US$559. Similarly, a 120 square meter apartment in Moscow is priced at US$1.42 million according to Global Property Price, while the price of an apartment in Bali is only half that. This makes very profitable for Russians to engage in the real estate business in Bali. Even some Russians often persuade local Balinese to let go of their land, but not all Balinese agree and want to sell it.
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