Indonesia has begun its first-ever joint naval exercises with Russia while simultaneously conducting military exercises with Australian forces.

Analysts say the exercises are part of Indonesia’s efforts to maintain a balanced foreign policy.

The five-day exercise with the Russian Navy began on Monday and will take place in two phases at a naval base in Surabaya and in the Java Sea.

President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to forge closer ties with Russia in the field of defense, in his attempt to forge ties with any country under the long-standing non-alignment foreign policy date of his country.

“Russian warships came from far and wide to Indonesia and conducted joint exercises for the first time aimed at improving diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Russia, especially between the navies,” the navy commander said Indonesian Denih Hendrata.

The statement quoted a representative of the Russian delegation as saying the exercise was designed to allow the two navies to exchange knowledge.

Sergei Tolchenov, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, said the exercises were not aimed at any country and could “ensure security and stability in the region.”

Indonesia-Australia exercises are also underway

The Australian Defense Force (ADF) and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) launched their largest combined joint activity in recent years on Sunday, called Exercise Keris Woomera.

The exercise was aided by a recently upgraded defense agreement between Australia and Indonesia.

Some 2,000 military personnel from both countries are participating in Indonesia, while around 35 members of the Indonesian military will be deployed aboard HMAS Adelaide, to train with ADF personnel in Darwin.

The ADF said the bilateral exercise would include follow-on air, maritime, amphibious and land operations, a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief evacuation scenario and a joint combined live fire exercise.

“By training together, our forces rely on common tactics, techniques and procedures to improve interoperability and readiness to respond to common security challenges in the region,” said Vice Adm. Justin Jones , head of joint operations.

Jakarta wants to be “friend” to everyone

Analysts said the bilateral exercises with Russia demonstrated Indonesia’s willingness to befriend any country.

“This may mean that Indonesia wants to work with everyone,” said Yohanes Sulaiman, associate professor of international relations at Jenderal Achmad Yani University.

Mr. Sulaiman said questions remained about Mr. Prabowo’s foreign policy grand strategy and that the Indonesia-Russia exercises could be a way for Russia to show that it still has friends.

Mr. Prabowo notably described Russia as a “great friend” during his visit to Moscow in July.

And the president has repeatedly emphasized that Indonesia will make friends with all countries and will not join any military bloc.

Last weekend, at a forum with his supporters and political parties, Mr Subianto said he could not say no when “two powers” – referring to China and the United States – l invited to visit them.

“For the sake of my people, I must maintain good relations with all countries,” he said.

“Because Indonesia is taking a path where a thousand friends is too few and one enemy is too many,” he said, adding that he did not want to get involved in any conflict.

Greg Fealy, an emeritus professor of Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said Indonesia’s exercises with Russia fit with its traditional diplomatic strategy of “free and active”, or bebas-aktif.

“He keeps saying that Indonesia wants to be a friend to a thousand countries and an enemy to no one, and so working with countries like Russia is the kind of thing that he says will prove the independence of Indonesian foreign policy,” he said.

The veteran foreign policy analyst said Indonesia had long had good relations with Russia and the fact that the two military exercises – with Russia and Australia – took place this week could demonstrate the balance of the nation in international relations.

“I suspect that, in Prabowo’s mind, this speaks to impartiality and Indonesia’s refusal to allow itself to be captured by any particular side.

“The fact that we have military exercises (between Indonesia and Russia) takes things to another level, but the fact that Indonesia has quite good defense relations with Russia is not new. “

‘Friends to all’

Unlike the previous Widodo government, the new Indonesian administration has expressed a strong desire to join the BRICS group of major emerging economies, which includes Russia and China as key members.

“It’s quite a significant policy reversal that Prabowo has made compared to the foreign policy pursued by Jokowi,” Professor Fealy said.

“The fact that Prabowo so quickly declared Indonesia’s desire to be a member of BRICS shows … an impartial, even friendly policy towards all.

“I suspect he thinks the more, the merrier. The more groups he is involved in, the more opportunities there are for Indonesia to prosper.”

Indonesia refused to take sides in the great power competition between Washington and Beijing – or Moscow – and Professor Fealy expected the country’s neutral foreign policy to continue.

But can Indonesia please everyone?

Professor Fealy said “a lot depends” on how events develop, but there would be immense pressure on the country to take “a tough stance” in the event of a wider regional conflict.

“For example, if tensions between China and the Philippines escalated in the South China Sea, at what point would Indonesia – as ASEAN’s largest member – feel the need to take a firm stance against what is happening? what were the Chinese or Philippine governments doing?

“He would have to go down one side or the other. He would try to avoid that.

“These are the kinds of events in which Indonesia could find itself at a disadvantage if it does not take a firm line, particularly if one side is seen as the aggressor.”

Despite previous clashes between Indonesia and Chinese ships in the South China Sea, the country appears determined to maintain and improve its relations with emerging countries as well as the West.

“Prabowo makes no apologies for his policy towards BRICS or the joint exercises with the Russian navy, just as he makes no apologies for his exercises with the Australians,” Professor Fealy said.

“This will be, for the moment, the policy he will pursue.”

ABC/son