Jakarta (Agencies) – Russia and Indonesia will hold their first joint navy drills in November, the TASS news agency cited Russian ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov as saying on Saturday.
Tolchenov said three Russian navy corvettes would take part in the exercise which "will be seen both by our friends and enemies".
"In November, a group of ships from the Pacific Fleet will make a friendly visit to the port of Surabaya. It will be three of our modern corvettes. Such visits of our various ships happen almost every year, and there is also movement in the opposite direction – Indonesian ships visit us. But in November, in connection with this visit, there will be the first large-scale naval exercises of Russia and Indonesia," he was quoted by TASS as saying.
Tolchenov also said that in the future these exercises could be held "with a certain frequency," such as once every two years.
In July this year, President Prabowo Subianto visited Russia and held a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
The visit to Moscow wrapped up Prabowo's European tour after his sojourn to Serbia, Turkey and France.