TOKYO – Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto will visit Japan from April 2 to 3, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials.

Mr Prabowo’s Tokyo trip will follow his visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 1, the President-elect’s first foreign tour less than two months after winning the race to succeed incumbent leader Joko Widodo.

Japan and Indonesia are comprehensive strategic partners sharing fundamental principles and values, and it is hoped Mr Prabowo’s visit will bolster close bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on April 1.

Mr Prabowo, a former special forces commander and the current defence minister, also plans to meet Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara, Japan’s Jiji news agency reported.

In 2021, Mr Prabowo and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi signed a deal to facilitate defence equipment transfers in a meeting with their Japanese counterparts, as Japan seeks to expand military and economic cooperation with South-east Asian nations to counter China.

Japan and Indonesia in December reached another deal to remove more trade barriers. REUTERS