22 August 2023
On August 22, 2023 H.E. Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, the Director General for ASEAN Cooperation (Deputy Minister) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia visited MGIMO. He participated in the round table discussion organized by the ASEAN Centre and met with the experts from the Department of Diplomacy at MGIMO and other institutions that specialize in Southeast Asia.
The distinguished guest received a warm welcome from the First Vice-Rector of MGIMO Professor Gennadii Tolstopyatenko. Professor Tolstopyatenko emphasized that MGIMO, a university with a rich history of Southeast Asian studies, feels privileged to be a platform for intellectual exchange between diplomats and prominent Russian specialists in the region. He expressed the high evaluation of the strategic partnership between Russia and ASEAN and mentioned the unique position of Indonesia as a powerful regional player with global diplomatic outreach.
He also mentioned that MGIMO has been a well-regarded center for Indonesian studies in Russia since its inception. Furthermore, the Vice-Rector mentioned the recent Master's Program "Political Economy of the Russia-ASEAN Strategic Partnership," which will have four students from Indonesia enrolling this year.
The Director of the ASEAN Center Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova, in turn, noted the professionalism of Indonesian diplomacy in its approaches to the current ASEAN chairmanship and the country’s overall activities in ASEAN. Today Indonesia is getting increasingly important for Russian foreign policy thanks to Indonesia’s growing global role, Indonesia’s participation in G20, its interest to cooperation with BRICS and Eurasian Economic Union.
H.E. Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro warmly welcomed the participants of the meeting, and thanked MGIMO and the ASEAN Centre for organizing an excellent opportunity to exchange views with experts and diplomats regarding the current regional problems and Russian-Indonesian cooperation.
Addressing the round table participants Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Russian Federation H.E. Jose Antonio Morato Tavares noted that today relations between Indonesia and Russia are consistently developing in all areas. He wished a productive discussion to the round table participants and thanked MGIMO for cooperation on behalf of the Indonesian delegation.
Within the framework of the round table, leading Russian experts on Indonesia and Southeast Asia discussed with the Indonesian counterparts the recent trends of security and multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as promising areas for the development of Russian-Indonesian relations. The Department of Diplomacy’s Head and Professor Kirill Barsky, Professor Yury Raikov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Russia in ASEAN in 2017-2023 Alexander Ivanov, Chief Research Fellow of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Drugov and Expert of the ASEAN Centre Nikita Kuklin presented their comments and observations. Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova moderated the discussion.
Among the guests were the representatives of the Embassy of Indonesia in Moscow, professors and research fellows from MGIMO and other institutions, such as the People’s Friendship University named after Patrice Lumumba, Institute of Oriental Studies, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia.
