On September 24, the Valdai Club held a seminar in Jakarta, titled “Indonesia – Russia: From the Past to the Future, History and Prospects,” organised jointly with the National Archives of Indonesia and the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation. The seminar was attended by experts from both countries, as well as India and China. The event consisted of two thematic blocks, dedicated, respectively, to the history of bilateral relations and their current state in a broad geopolitical context.
The opening remarks to the seminar’s participants were made by Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, Sergey Tolchenov, Russia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Winardi Hanafi Lucky, Director of the Second European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Andrey Artizov, Head of the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation, and Imam Gunarto, Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia.
Sergey Tolchenov recalled that 2025 will mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Indonesia, and that the two countries approach this date with similar positions on many global and regional issues. The Russian ambassador emphasised that Russia values Indonesia's "free and active foreign policy", a clear manifestation of which was Jakarta's position during the country's G20 presidency in 2022, when it was under intense pressure from Western countries, but defended its stance.
Russia has always been a good friend of Indonesia, noted Winardi Hanafi Laki. According to the Indonesian diplomat, the importance of discussing the historical prospects of bilateral relations is due to the fact that knowledge of the past plays a key role in mutual understanding. In turn, Andrey Artizov recalled that in 2016, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the archival services of Russia and Indonesia, and expressed hope that this cooperation will reach a more serious level. "I hope that new golden decades are ahead," he noted, in a nod to the 1950s - 1960s, considered the "golden decade" of bilateral relations. The fact that Indonesia remembers this period, despite the cooling that followed, was evidenced by the cultural programme, with a visit to the National Archives of Indonesia and a photo exhibition in front of the entrance to the hall where the seminar was held. Most of the photo documents covered the meetings of the leaders of the two countries – Sukarno and Khrushchev, as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations and Soviet aid to Indonesia. The speakers at the seminar also repeatedly addressed the “golden decade”.
The first session was devoted to the historical roots of bilateral relations. Andrey Artizov told how the Soviet government had arrived at the idea that it needed to help the young republic. According to him, interest in Indonesia arose in the Kremlin in the last years of Stalin’s life, who, after the victory of the revolution in China in 1949, believed that “a revolutionary situation had arisen in the Far East”. But Nikita Khrushchev, who travelled to India, Burma and Afghanistan in 1955 together with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikolai Bulganin, provided a serious material basis for Soviet policy towards the Global South. As a result, the Soviet government decided to provide material assistance to the countries of the "third world". Starting in 1957, this assistance was provided from funds which had been made available due to the reduction of the armed forces of the USSR. In total, 0.5% of the national income of the USSR went to aid developing countries, which was proportionate to the volume of aid to the states which were in the socialist camp. Indonesia was in third place in this indicator after Egypt and India. It is noteworthy that almost 65% of the aid was directed to defence and 35% to economic development.
Although the USSR supported the Communist Party of Indonesia, the Soviet leadership never confused contacts along communist lines with contacts along state lines, and Moscow always built relations with Jakarta as the centre of a potentially great power, the head of Rosarkhiv emphasised.
An interesting overview of Russian-Indonesian relations was provided by Jose Tavarez, the Indonesian Ambassador to the Russian Federation. Addressing the origins of these relations, he recalled the expeditions of Nikolai Mikluho-Maclay to Southeast Asia, as he had visited many islands of modern Indonesia, and the eastern journey of the future Emperor Nicholas II, who visited Batavia (Jakarta), Bogor and Bandung. It was after the trip of the Tsarevich to Batavia that the first Russian consul was appointed - Modest Bakunin, who left valuable notes about his stay in a book titled "Tropical Holland. Five Years on the Island of Java". The Russians had come to Indonesia as guests and explorers, not colonisers, Tavares emphasised. According to the ambassador, Russia remains a model of best practices for Indonesia when it comes to things such as free health care and education, and Indonesians living in Russia highly value the quality of these offerings. At the same time, many in Indonesia itself continue to fall prey to stereotypes about Russia as a communist and atheistic country, Tavares noted with regret, calling on his compatriots to abandon outdated ideas. He placed special emphasis on the fact that millions of Muslims live in Russia andfreely practice their faith, and “these are native Russians, not migrants,” while the communist ideology has long been a thing of the past. These remarks are indeed important in the local context, since the fight against communism, perceived as “godless” and therefore threatening the first principle of the national ideology of Pancasila, remains an important organising element of Indonesian society, and Marxism-Leninism is prohibited in the country by law (more about the evolution of interpretations of Pancasila can be read in an article by Oleg Barabanov, programme director of the Valdai Club).
Rieke Diah Pitaloka, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Indonesia and Special Representative for the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (a position that has no analogues in the world, as Imam Gunarto proudly noted), spoke in detail about the “golden decade” of Soviet-Indonesian relations. She mentioned the “Druzhba” hospital built in 1963 (the most modern in the country at that time), which was gifted by the Soviet Union to Indonesia, and “Gelora Bung” stadium, which was built with the help of Soviet specialists and allowed Indonesia to host the Asian Games in 1962. These are perhaps the most famous material symbols of Soviet-Indonesian friendship, but, in addition, such events as visits by Soviet cosmonauts – at that time top “stars” – to Indonesia were organised. Each of their visits became a triumph of Soviet “soft power”. However, after Sukarno was removed from power in 1965, relations between the two countries cooled sharply and began to normalise only in the mid-1980s. The symbol of the "defrosting" was President Suharto's visit to the USSR in 1989. According to Rike Dia Pataloka, a new era in Russian-Indonesian relations was opened by President Megawati Sukarnoputri's visit to Moscow in 2003.
The historical theme was further explored during the second session, devoted to the geopolitical prospects of bilateral relations. Andi Widjajanto, an expert on defence and security issues, cited figures on the volume of aid provided by the Soviet Union to Indonesia under Sukarno. It amounted to $1 billion, or 14.21% of Indonesia's GNP in 1961. As Widjajanto emphasised, Indonesia became the largest recipient of Soviet military aid outside the socialist camp. Speaking about the cooling of Soviet-Indonesian relations, the expert noted that disagreements began to emerge under Sukarno. The USSR could not provide unconditional support to Indonesia during its conflict with Malaysia (initiated by the Indonesian leader), as this could undermine the anti-colonialist narrative. Widjajanto also cited interesting statistics on Indonesian arms imports in 1966-1998. After Suharto came to power, the export of Soviet equipment to Indonesia ceased, and the main supplier became the United States, whose share peaked in 1976-80 before steadily declining throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Currently the largest supplier of weapons to Indonesia is South Korea (30.2% of imports), followed by Turkey (15.7%) and the United States (12.1%), Russia ranks eighth with 2.59%. Russia's return to the Indonesian arms market took place in the early 1990s, but according to publicly available data, the country is not even among the top twenty recipients of Russian weapons.
At the same time, such changes in the list of Indonesia's main partners in the sphere of military-technical cooperation reflect the course of many countries in the Global South to diversify partnerships and, more broadly, to make maximally independent decisions on foreign policy, economics and defence.
Sometimes the actions of the collective West limit this ability. Nelson Wong, vice president of the Shanghai Centre for Strategic and International Studies, recalled that Indonesia refused a contract for the supply of Russian Su-35 fighters due to fears of Western sanctions - but the changing international environment sometimes opens up new opportunities.
In this sense, the current conflict between Russia and the West is quite indicative. As noted by Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, the West tried to remove Russia from the economic scene, but it failed, and Russia's trade continues to grow in various ways, including with the West, despite the collapse of political relations.
The groundlessness of the West's claims to global dominance and regulation of all world processes is noted in the Global South. "We do not want the dominance of one power," said Hikmahanto Juwana, Rector of Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani. There are also disagreements regarding the West's claims to moral leadership, the groundlessness of which is confirmed by the reaction of Western countries to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The topic of independence - this time technological - was also discussed at the third session. Arvind Gupta, head and co-founder of the Digital India Foundation, convincingly showed that colonialism is now acquiring a technological character. "There's no such thing as a free lunch in technology," he warned. This applies primarily to global digital platforms that dominate the market and are closely connected to the authorities of the respective states, thanks to which they have the opportunity to promote their political agenda around the world. Technological sovereignty is becoming a necessity, and the path to it, according to Gupta, leads through the creation of domestic platforms, the localisation of personal data and the production of devices within the country.
The key technology - and potential arena of confrontation - has become artificial intelligence (AI). Gupta called for a strengthening of the dialogue surrounding the national security risks posed by AI, within the framework of forums such as ASEAN. In turn, Konstantin Pantzerev, a professor at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at the Faculty of International Relations at St. Petersburg State University, spoke about the achievements and ambitions of Indonesia in the field of AI (his detailed article on this topic is published on our website).
The topic of the fourth session of the seminar was the relations between Indonesia and Russia in the naval sphere. However, a wide range of issues was touched upon, including maritime strategies and maritime law. Admiral Sergey Avakyants, Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy in 2012–2023, noted that the concept of sea power includes not only the navy, but also civilian shipping, pipelines, and the development of marine resources. All these areas, in the context of the weakening dominance of the West and the emergence of new centres of power, are becoming an arena of confrontation, and the creation of sea power is a task of national importance, he emphasised. Alexey Kupriyanov, head of the Indian Ocean Region Centre at IMEMO RAS and author of the recent Valdai paper “Maritime Geopolitics of the Pacific and Indian Oceans: A View from Moscow,” spoke about the approaches of the United States, China, and other countries to a possible military confrontation in the region. In turn, Pavel Gudev, Head of the US and Canada World Ocean Policy Research Group at IMEMO, touched upon the interpretations of maritime law by different countries, pointing out some alarming practices (for example, the permissive nature of the peaceful passage of foreign warships through the Taiwan Strait, proclaimed by China back in 1958).
The seminar participants had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the position of Admiral Muhammad Ali, Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, on Russian-Indonesian cooperation in the naval sphere, which was presented by the representative of the staff, Rear Admiral Laksda Akmal. The speech pointed out the challenges created in the region by the geopolitical confrontation between the US and China, and environmental threats, as well as new opportunities opening up due to the expansion of maritime trade and new security initiatives. Joint naval exercises between Russia and Indonesia, defence agreements and research initiatives demonstrate the commitment of the two countries to strengthening security in the world ocean and expand operational capabilities, he emphasised.
Amarulla Octavian, Vice Chairman of the National Research and Innovation Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (BRIN), spoke about the priorities of cooperation with Russia in the maritime sphere from the point of view of the scientific community. According to him, Indonesia is most interested in joint deep-sea research, since deep-sea zones account for approximately 60% of Indonesia's sea territory. Their study will not only allow for a better understanding of tectonic processes, but also create an evidence base for expanding the country's territorial waters, Amarulla Octavian noted.
The wide range of topics discussed at the seminar and the high intellectual level of the discussions contributed to strengthening mutual understanding, and turning to the past reminded us of the historical roots of Russian-Indonesian friendship, which has withstood all the tests of the 20th century.
According to Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, in our complex and dangerous world we need to learn to pave the way together. The Russian-Indonesian seminar was a useful lesson in navigation for both sides.
