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Indonesia leader likely to focus on arms supplies in Moscow

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Arms supplies are likely to dominate the Indonesian president's first ever three-day visit to Russia that started Wednesday.
MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Arms supplies are likely to dominate the Indonesian president's first ever three-day visit to Russia that started Wednesday.

Prior to his Russia visit, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono voiced his intention to discuss bilateral military-technical cooperation.

"Issues of military-technical cooperation between our countries will be discussed in detail during my upcoming official visit to Russia," Yudhoyono said during a visit to Indo Defense-2006, an international arms exhibition held last week in Jakarta.

"In particular, Jakarta intends to increase the number of Su fighters purchased in the Russian Federation," he said.

A leading Russian business daily, Kommersant, said Friday that Moscow will give a five-year loan to Indonesia worth $1 billion in two $500-million tranches to purchase Russian armaments and military equipment, which Jakarta will in particular use to buy Su-30MK2 Flanker fighters and two diesel-electric Amur-1650 (Lada-class) submarines.

The newspaper quoted Mikhail Bely, Russia's ambassador in Jakarta, as saying that more than 10 documents will be signed during the meeting, including intergovernmental agreements on the civilian use of space, on the development of military-technical cooperation in 2007-2010, on energy giant Gazprom and oil company LUKoil's participation in oil and gas field exploration in Borneo Island, and on Russia's participation in an international tender to build the first Indonesian nuclear power plant.

Following a pause, Moscow-Jakarta military-technical cooperation has recently resumed. In 2003, Indonesia bought two Su-27SK Flanker fighters, two Su-30MK2 Flanker fighters, two Mi-35P Hind attack/transport helicopters, six Mi-172 Hip multi-mission helicopters, armored personnel carriers and Kalashnikov assault rifles, Kommersant said.

A source in the Kremlin told RIA Novosti that the common desire to further expand Russian-Indonesian ties will become the keynote of a joint statement by the two presidents, planned to be adopted following their talks in Moscow.

The source said increasing the volumes and diversification of trade and economic cooperation will be a priority at the talks. He said mutual trade was growing ($366 million in 2004, a total of $551 million in 2005, and $300 million in the first seven months of 2006).

The source said documents in the law enforcement and tourism spheres will also be signed.

Russia and Indonesia have long-standing friendship and partnership relations. Mutually beneficial cooperation, whose basic principles were laid in the Declaration on the Foundations of Friendly and Collaborative Relations between Russia and Indonesia in the 21st Century, adopted in April 2003, is a priority of Russia's multi-vector policy in the Asia-Pacific region, the source said.

The sides will also discuss urgent issues of the international agenda.

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