Moscow, Jakarta embark on strategic partnership in their relations, Lavrov says
The Russian top diplomat comments on the relations with Indonesia
MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Russian-Indonesian relations have reached the level of strategic partnership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Tuesday.
«Our countries are cooperating in the trade-economic, military-technical and humanitarian spheres. In general, we believe that our relations have entered the level of strategic partnership," he said, stressing that dialogue is regularly conducted at the high and top levels.
«This is a good chance to hold such negotiations on all bilateral issues and the issues of the bilateral agenda that may become the theme of joint activity in the United Nations and in the Pacific Rim with regard to Russia’s active participation in the events organized by ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," Lavrov noted.
Retno Marsudi, for whom the current visit to Russia is the first one as a foreign minister, noted, for her part, that she expects the negotiations with the Russian counterpart to be productive. «Today, I hope very much to discuss the issues of bilateral relations, as well as of the international agenda," Marsudi said.
She said that the main goal of these negotiations is discussion of economic cooperation. «We are very happy because relations are developing, and this visit is chiefly aimed at bolstering economic relations between our countries, because our country is one of the largest economies in the East Asian region," the Indonesian foreign minister said.