Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto will skip the G7 Summit’s outreach session in Canada due to previous commitments with Singapore and Russia, according to a senior diplomat.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Rolliansyah “Roy” Soemirat said Thursday that Prabowo’s non-attendance did not mean a decline in Indonesia’s support for the group of the world’s richest countries. The outreach session of the G7 Summit, which is set to take place on June 17, is only a day apart from Prabowo’s planned state visit to Russia. 

“Canadian Prime Minister [Mark Carney] has invited Mr. Prabowo to join the G7’s outreach talks. … This invitation shows that Indonesia is seen to have held importance and significance on the global stage,” Roy told reporters in Jakarta.

“However, Mr. Prabowo has already made some commitments, be it in Singapore or Russia. That’s why he can’t make it to the [G7 Summit],” Roy said.

According to Roy, Prabowo will jet to Singapore to meet the close neighbor’s prime minister, Lawrence Wong, on Monday, June 16. 

The ex-military chief will also travel to Russia for a series of talks on June 18-20. Prabowo will hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and address local businessmen at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. His state visit is likely to result in some new Russian deals on technology, ship production, and other areas.

“Any schedule involving Mr. President or Foreign Affairs Minister [Sugiono] is not only about attendance, but it is also about how the meetings will benefit our national interests. … Prabowo is someone who always sticks to his words, and the meetings like the one in Singapore are something that has been long planned for,” Roy told the press.

It is also up to the host, Canada, whether Indonesia can send someone on Prabowo’s behalf to attend the session. The envoy revealed that Prabowo had told Carney by phone that Jakarta would continue to encourage stronger ties between the G7 economies and its partners, particularly on global matters.

The G7 outreach session in Kananaskis is open to selected non-members. Aside from Prabowo, Carney has also invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a guest. Modi had announced he would come to the summit.

The G7 is an informal bloc of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. This was not the first time for Indonesia to get asked to such meetings. In 2023, Former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo attended the group's outreach forum in Hiroshima.

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