RI, Russia to enhance military cooperation

RI, Russia to enhance military cooperation

Agencies, Jakarta

Indonesia and Russia have agreed to strengthen bilateral ties,
including cooperation in military, technology and trade.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Russian President
Vladimir Putin witnessed on Monday the signing of several
memorandums of understanding symbolizing the new cooperation of
the two countries.

It was not immediately clear whether Megawati also closed a
US$500 million deal to purchase two Sukhoi-27 and two Sukhoi-30
jet fighters from Russia, but she had expressed the intention to
buy the jets.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Putin, Megawati said
that she had asked for Russia's support in modernizing Indonesian
Military (TNI) equipment.

"I asked for President Putin's support in finding measures to
finance the cooperation, maybe through countertrades or joint
ventures in military industries," Megawati was quoted by Antara
as saying.

Putin said with the recently improved situation in Indonesia,
including economic progress, there were grounds for expecting a
successful development of Russian-Indonesian ties in various
spheres.

"The situation in Indonesia, including the state of the
economy, has improved recently -- this gives grounds for
developing our relations in different areas," Putin was quoted as
saying by the Interfax news agency.

Megawati was on the second day of her five-day visit to Russia
as part of a 10-day tour of Eastern European countries, including
Romania and Poland.

The trip is part of efforts to look for other military
hardware sources as Indonesia had been under a military embargo
from its traditional arms supplier -- the United States -- since
1999.

Although there was no confirmation of whether Megawati had
sealed the $500 million deal for the Sukhoi jet fighters, Russia
TV reported on Monday that the contract for the purchase had
already been signed.

During the press conference, Putin also pointed to the
traditional relations between the two countries, especially
during the tenure of founding president Sukarno, Megawati's
father, in the 1950s.

"We are happy to welcome you in Russia as the President and
the daughter of the great father (Sukarno) who is commemorated in
this country. There is a record here of conferences dedicated to
Sukarno and editions of books written by him," Putin said as
reported by the Ria Novosti news agency.

He further praised Indonesia's consistency in maintaining
world peace and accepted an invitation to visit the country as
soon as possible.

The two countries also underlined the importance of a United
Nations role in postwar Iraq and voiced a similar
nonproliferation stance of weapons of mass destruction regarding
the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Both leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation in fighting
terrorism, especially in the sharing of information.

Megawati held bilateral talks with Putin at the Kremlin Grand
Palace, and later in the day she also met the Federation Council
chairman Sergei M. Mironov.

The meeting between Megawati and Putin was the second, with
the first taking place in 1990 when Megawati, then a legislator,
visited St. Petersburg, where Putin was still the deputy mayor.

The two leaders also saw the signing of a memorandum of
understanding on space technology cooperation. Russia had offered
to provide a floating nuclear power plant and construct a rocket
and satellite launching pad in Biak, Papua.

On Tuesday, Megawati is expected to receive an honorary
doctorate degree from the Moscow Diplomatic Academy and visit the
Sukhoi testing ground at the Zhukovsky air base near Moscow.

Megawati will continue her visit to Poland, the last leg of
her Eastern Europe tour, on April 24 after visiting St.
Petersburg on Wednesday.

An official traveling with Megawati told The Jakarta Post on
Monday that the President was likely to extend the trip to attend
an emergency summit on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 29.

The President will be accompanied to the meeting by
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti
and Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi.