Megawati's Russian trip important, says foreign minister

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Indonesia's foreign minister stressed the importance of President Megawati's planned visit to Russia to forge bilateral ties between the two countries in an attempt to counterbalance the dominating role of the United States in the world.

He said on Sunday that the two nations' leaders would discuss the Iraq issue, especially the role countries could play in the planned reconstruction of Iraq under the auspices of the UN.

"In the current world, we see there is no power that can match the U.S. We need to put stress multilateralism to correct this situation," Hassan said.

"In this context, it is important and quite strategic for us to strengthen our ties with Russia," the minister remarked.

Megawati will visit Russia as part of a 12-day Eastern European tour from April 17 through April 29. She is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Russia, along with France and Germany, had spearheaded the opposition the war plans of the U.S. and its allies, cracking the old alliance between Washington and Europe.

This could signal the beginning of moves to counter the power of the U.S. following the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, with Russia taking the lead.

"We realized the importance of looking to Russia even before the Iraq crisis, and the current situation only provides more reason for us to do so," Hassan added.

Arms procurement is Indonesia's main objective as the country has been frustrated by Washington's decision to maintain the ban on arms sales pending the investigation of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.

Aside from arms sales, Megawati will likely hold out the possibility of Russian firms getting a slice of the lucrative oil and gas business in Indonesia, which is currently dominated by U.S. and British companies.

Sources at the foreign ministry office that among the seven or eight memorandums of understandings to be signed by the two presidents, areements for collaboration in the fields of arms sales and oil would definitely be on the agenda.

Megawati is slated to meet Putin on April 21 as part of her four-day visit to Russia.

Washington could well have cause to worry over the planned visit as Indonesia and Russia previously had close historical ties, with Megawati's father and founding president Sukarno relying on Moscow for arms in the 1950s and early 60's.

Trade between the two countries has been on the increase with the latest figures showing that in 2001 it reached US$203.5 million, US$36.2 million more than in the previous year.

Megawati is slated to start her trip in Rumania on April 17, before heading for Moscow on April 20. After staying for four days in Russia she will fly to Poland on April 24.

The trip has been extended as she was originally slated to come home on April 27, but following an invitation from Thailand, Megawati will now visit Bangkok for two days.

Sources at the Presidential Palace said that Megawati was also slated to deliver a speech to a meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN- ESCAP) in Bangkok on April 28.

The President is scheduled to arrive home in Jakarta on April 29.