Indonesia and Russia to hold first joint naval drills

Jakarta: Indonesia and Russia will hold their first joint naval drills next month, Jakarta s navy said on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian archipelago...

Jakarta: Indonesia and Russia will hold their first joint naval drills next month, Jakarta's navy said on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian archipelago's new leader seeks to boost ties with Moscow.

The region's biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in great power competition between Washington and Beijing.

But newly inaugurated Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to be bolder on the world stage and in July visited Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin.

The Indonesian navy said the drills would take place from November 4 to 8 in the Java Sea near a naval base in Surabaya.

"(It) is a milestone bilateral exercise between TNI AL and the Russian navy," the navy said in the statement, using its Indonesian acronym.