Russian-Indonesian relations through the ASEAN context: On the way to strategic partnership

Abstract

In 2018-2021 Indonesia was the coordinating country for interaction with Russia under ASEAN which has a system of coordinators for cooperation with each of the Association’s dialogue partners. Coordinating countries fulfill their duties for 3 years. Jakarta announced three priority areas of cooperation between Russia and ASEAN: the fight against terrorism, cyber security and disaster management. According to the author, significant progress has been achieved in all the declared areas of interaction during this time. These years were marked by a number of significant events which allow conclude that cooperation between Indonesia and Russia is reaching a qualitatively new level. At the same time, despite an intensive political dialogue and a significant strengthening of the regulatory framework for bilateral relations and cooperation in international institutions of multilateral cooperation the practical implementation of joint economic projects remains at a very low level. This article analyzes the features of Russian-Indonesian cooperation at the present time, identifies key obstacles to deepening interaction and prospects for further development of bilateral relations. It can be said that relations between Russia and Indonesia are developing chaotically and inconsequently in many respects. Many events dedicated to commemorative anniversaries lead to a surge of mutual interest, but then contacts are reached to a minimum again until the next similar things. At the same time, a certain revival of bilateral relations has been observed in recent years. Significant changes in the statistics of trade turnover, investment cooperation and the practical implementation of large projects can be expected only in the medium or long term.