Despite being on the G7 summit guest list, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is in Russia this week, delivering the keynote speech to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Prabowo to attend the G7 leaders’ summit, but a spokesperson for Prabowo said the president's long-scheduled Russia visit prevented him from attending. Prabowo also visited Singapore earlier this week.
Prabowo’s travels and priorities demonstrate his “multi-aligned” foreign policy, long a hallmark of Indonesian diplomacy.
Since Prabowo's electoral victory last year, Indonesia has joined BRICS+ and applied for membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. (China, South Korea, and Taiwan have also applied to join the CPTPP.)
Prabowo is also one of the few world leaders to have recently met with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and, now for the second time, Putin.
In a speech last week, Prabowo said, "we are determined not to join any military group or alliance... We want good relations with all powers.”
Canada and Indonesia signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement last year, which is set to come into force by 2026.
