Indonesia postpones D-8 summit
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the 2026 D-8 Summit scheduled for Jakarta has been postponed until further notice.
At a Foreign Ministry media briefing in Jakarta on Friday, Tri Tharyat, Director of Multilateral Cooperation, stated that Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono has sent letters to D-8 member countries informing them of the postponement of the summit and all its associated activities.
“Regarding the setting of a new date, we will certainly discuss this in greater detail in due course. At present, it may not be the right time given the developments that are still ongoing in the Middle East region,” he said.
According to Tharyat, the decision was made after the Foreign Ministry consulted with the D-8 Secretary-General, commissioners, ambassadors of D-8 member states, and partners in their respective accredited countries.
He also stated that D-8 member states provided input regarding the summit’s implementation and understood the difficult circumstances caused by the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Indonesia currently holds the D-8 presidency for the 2026-2027 term with the theme “Navigating Global Shifts: Strengthening Equality, Solidarity, and Cooperation for Shared Prosperity.”
Prior to this postponement, Indonesia had planned to host the D-8 Summit on 15 April 2026, to be preceded by a high-level officials meeting and a foreign ministers meeting.
D-8 is an economic cooperation organisation of developing countries comprising Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Azerbaijan became the newest member state, joining in December 2024.
Iran was attacked by the United States and Israel on 28 February, which killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hundreds of female students, and other senior Iranian officials. Iran subsequently launched retaliatory strikes against United States military assets deployed in Middle Eastern countries and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a rise in global oil prices.