Defense Minister Meets French President Macron, Gives Bali Keris Souvenirs

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was warmly welcomed when he fulfilled an invitation to a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macro at the lysée Palace./DOK via Instagram Kemhan RI

JAKARTA - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was warmly welcomed when he accepted an invitation to a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the lysée Palace.

At the end of the one-on-one meeting, Defense Minister Prabowo presented President Macron with a souvenir in the form of a traditional weapon native to the archipelago, namely a keris from Bali.

During the meeting, Defense Minister Prabowo and President Macron discussed the continuation of the defense cooperation relationship between Indonesia and France which had been going well so far.

There was also discussion about the continuation of the plan to purchase Rafale jets and Scorpene submarines from France which had been agreed upon by the two countries on February 10, witnessed by the Ministers of Defense of the two countries at the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Jakarta.

Souvenirs from Prabowo

In several meetings, Prabowo Subianto often gives souvenirs. This was also done by Prabowo when he received an honorary visit from the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, Florence Parly.

As a memento from Prabowo to Parly, at the end of the bilateral meeting between the two countries, Prabowo gave some Indonesian-made souvenirs.

Quoted from a statement from the Public Relations Bureau of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defense, one of the souvenirs that Prabowo gave to Parly was the G2 Elite pistol produced by PT Pindad with Parly's full name on it. The gun was white and gold, housed in a red box.

On the PT Pindad website, it is stated that this pistol has a 9 x 19 mm parabellum caliber and has a magazine capable of holding 15 rounds.

This gun has the advantage of an adjustable rear plate. With a barrel length of 5 inches, the resulting accuracy cannot be doubted.

In addition, Prabowo also gave a batik scarf that seemed to be directly worn by Parly. Before the gift exchange, Minister Parly was seen wearing a white and blue accented scarf. He then replaced his scarf with the one Prabowo had given him, namely a batik scarf with brown and dark blue accents.