Indonesia’s presidential front runner Prabowo Subianto has vowed to maintain the country’s neutrality in international relations, stressing that he would not align with any major power blocs or join any military alliances amid rising tensions between the United States and China, in the interests of the nation and its people.
Mr Prabowo repeated that “one thousand friends are too few, one enemy too many” at an event organised by Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Monday, hinting at the direction of his foreign policy strategy if he is elected as the country’s next president in the February 2024 election.
“We will maintain our independent foreign policy. We will not be part of any military bloc. We will not be part of any geopolitical bloc. We need to have the best relations with all partners, all countries, especially our neighbours, regional neighbours and direct neighbours,” the 72-year-old Defence Minister told international diplomats, researchers and journalists.
Indonesia has no formal military alliances with any country.
A popularity poll conducted between Oct 27 and Nov 1 by research institute Indikator Politik Indonesia placed Mr Prabowo in a comfortable lead against his rivals, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan in the upcoming presidential race.
Some 39.7 per cent of 1,220 respondents said they would vote for Mr Prabowo, compared with 30 per cent for Mr Ganjar and 24.4 per cent for Mr Anies.
At Monday’s talk, Mr Prabowo said Indonesia has been at the “crossroads of great civilisations” by way of trade routes and strategic waterways for many centuries – and remains so.
Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin November 15, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin November 15, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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