Palace: Indonesia's Free-Active Diplomacy Is Increasingly Relevant In The Trump Era

Presiden Prabowo Subianto dalam ssih ketiga KTT G20 Brasil/ANTARA/HO-Biro Pers Sekretariat Presiden

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) Philips Vermonte views the global dynamics after Donald Trump became President of the United States and the problems between EU members show the increasingly relevant lines of Indonesian free diplomacy.

"This is the time when our free foreign politics becomes more relevant, because basically we no longer need to rely on superpowers," Philips said in a discussion session with the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) in Jakarta, Thursday, February 6.

Although Indonesia is now increasingly free to carry out its free foreign politics, the PCO spokesman views that this does not mean that Indonesia is taking an antagonist stance on the US.

"RI's participation in BRICS cannot be seen that Indonesia is now taking an 'anti-Western' position because Indonesia has never been an 'anti-Western' country so far," he said.

He also emphasized that Indonesia's participation in BRICS and OECD does not need to be contested because the two organizations are basically different.

In addition, Philips assessed that the US remains the strongest military country and has an active private sector around the world, including Indonesia. He also did not agree that the US was currently seen as experiencing a setback.

"In fact, what happened is that other countries are increasingly pursuing (addidaya countries)," he said.

"Indonesia also currently has an increasing incentive to cooperate with developing countries to an unprecedented level," said Philips.

PCO spokesman then highlighted a number of international agendas attended by President Prabowo Subianto some time ago, namely the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru.

According to him, Brazil and Peru, who took on the role of hosting such a large international agenda, showed the sharper spurs of developing countries in setting a global agenda.

"We hope that developed countries do not see it as an attempt (developing countries) to challenge (dominate), but rather that developing countries are now increasingly pursuing (progressive countries) in order to achieve mutual prosperity," said the PCO spokesman.