Indonesian President to Visit Russia in April

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri plans to make an official visit to Russia in the second half of April.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda said on Friday that, despite the unstable situation in connection with the Iraq war, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri had not changed her intention to make a Russian visit which was planned long before the war in Iraq started.

At the same time, the Jakarta Post newspaper wrote on Saturday referring to the minister's statement, the Iraqi problem could be raised at the meeting between President Megawati and President Putin.

In this regard the Jakarta Post stressed that Indonesia shared Russia's position on the Iraqi problem. Russia, the newspaper said, is one of the countries which led the world community's efforts in counteracting the military solution of the Iraqi crisis.

Referring to a source in the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, the Jakarta Post reported that in the course of the Russo-Indonesian summit about ten documents aimed to intensify bilateral co-operation in various spheres, including military-technical co-operation, would be signed.

The second session of the Russo-Indonesian commission on trade-economic and technical co-operation which was held yesterday on Bali, Indonesia, made an important contribution to the drafting of these documents.