Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at an opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Russian-Indonesian diplomatic relations, Moscow, February 3, 2025

Mr Ambassador,

Your excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends.

Welcome to the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Russia-Indonesia diplomatic relations.

I would like to thank senior officials and staff from the Ministry’s Department of History and Records and from the Third Asian Department for their highly professional efforts to set up this event. The unique documents and photographs will provide an overview of the highlights of our relations.

Russian-Indonesian diplomatic relations were established 75 years ago on this day, February 3, 1950. From the earliest days, contacts between our countries relied on high levels of trust, mutual respect and understanding. Gradually, they evolved into strong ties of friendship between many generations of the people of our two countries. The Soviet Union provided political support to the Indonesian people’s struggle for independence, and was among the first countries to recognise Indonesia as an independent state, and contributed to the development of its statehood.

Soviet specialists built Friendship Hospital, a replica of Moscow Luzhniki Stadium, numerous roads and transport interchanges in Jakarta and other regions of the archipelago. These sites became material symbols of fruitful Soviet-Indonesian cooperation. I can assure you that when I visited Indonesia, I had the chance to see our Indonesian friends continue to proudly and gratefully preserve and use these sites.

Relations between Nikita Khrushchev and first President of Indonesia Sukarno, who visited the Soviet Union four times in the 1960s, were marked by particular trust. You will have the chance to see the archival photos depicting the main events of those years.

Our multifaceted ties have received a boost lately. We regard Indonesia as an influential power and one of Russia’s key partners in the Asia-Pacific region. We maintain strategic relations. The ongoing political dialogue at the top level underlies our successful relations. We place great emphasis on the implementation of the agreements reached during the talks between President Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto at the Kremlin in July 2024. We hope that more photos from a new meeting of the leaders will replenish our archives soon. We will work hard to make it happen.

We highly value the stable inter-parliamentary contacts and relations between different governmental departments of Russia and Indonesia.

Defence and security cooperation is our priority. Mutual visits by ships to each other’s ports play an important role. The first Russian-Indonesian Orruda 2024 naval exercise in the Java Sea in 2024 came as an outstanding event in our relations. Cooperation on issues of international information security and cyber security is in place. It is one of the most pressing matters which largely underlies the sovereignty of every country.

Major efforts to expand trade and investment exchanges have been put in. We see an array of opportunities for carrying out mutually beneficial initiatives in energy, including peaceful nuclear energy, space exploration, agricultural development, and transport. The Russian-Indonesian Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation and its working groups are making a major contribution to diversifying bilateral cooperation.

We look forward to an early conclusion of a free trade agreement between Indonesia and the EAEU member states which will provide a major boost to expanding practical ties between our countries.

Humanitarian cooperation has traditionally made great strides and enjoys support of our people. Today, more than 500 Indonesians are studying at Russian universities. In turn, Russians highly appreciate Indonesian hospitality, original culture, and exotic nature of the archipelago. To promote our cooperation, including across Indonesia, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation will open in Denpasar, Bali, soon.

On a separate note, I would also like to note the productive coordination of our efforts in foreign policy, primarily the UN and other international venues and in the Russia-ASEAN dialogue partnership format. The list of these platforms saw an addition in the form of BRICS which is a new fast-growing association that enjoys the highest standing in today’s world, which Indonesia joined as a full-fledged member on January 1. This fact will significantly expand Jakarta’s opportunities to expand international cooperation. Concurrently, it will significantly enhance the international status and reputation of BRICS as a true voice of the Global South, and Indonesia as a major Muslim country.

We note with satisfaction that over the past 75 years we have managed to build impressive friendly ties that are based on a solid material, spiritual and historical potential. An even greater potential is clearly waiting to be unlocked. Relying on the rich traditions of friendship and mutual sympathy, together with our Indonesian friends, we will continue to do our best to unlock it. We are enriching our relations with new facets for the benefit and to the satisfaction of our peoples and for the good of all humanity.