President Jokowi And Joe Biden Will Meet At The White House Next Monday, Discuss Crisis In Gaza?

President Jokowi with President Biden. (Source: BPMI/Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)

JAKARTA - White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Perre confirmed that it will hold a meeting between President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and President Joe Biden next week, discussing regional security to the environmentally friendly energy transition.

Jean-Pierre said at a press conference Tuesday local time that the meeting of the two leaders is planned to be held on Monday.

He said the two would discuss ways to enforce international law, ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, a reference Washington uses to describe its efforts against China's growing power and influence in the region.

"During the visit, President Biden will reaffirm the United States' commitment to deepen our nearly 75-year partnership between the second-largest and third-largest democracies in the world," Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre said the two leaders would also explore opportunities to increase cooperation in the transition to environmentally friendly energy, advance economic well-being, and strengthen regional peace and stability.

In addition to meeting President Biden, President Jokowi is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in San Francisco on November 15-17.

The planned meeting in Washington was first announced in September, after President Biden did not attend the summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta last August, with Vice President Kamala Harris coming to represent him.

The crisis that is taking place in the Gaza Strip is said to present an awkward background, with Indonesia as the largest Muslim-majority country in the world and the United States as Israel's main ally.

Indonesia was also in international condemnation of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and called for an immediate ceasefire. On Tuesday, President Jokowi said Indonesia's support for Palestine "would never waver."