First Russia-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Naval Exercise Begins in Indonesia

The first-ever military exercise of Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened in Indonesia on Wednesday. The ceremony was attended by Russian Ambassador to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobyeva. The Russia-ASEAN naval exercise in Indonesia’s territorial waters off North Sumatra will run until December 3. The large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Panteleyev will represent Russia in the drills. The maneuvers will run in two stages: virtual and naval.

Russia and ASEAN held their fourth summit via a videoconference on October 28. The summit was timed for the 30th anniversary of the relations between Russia and the association celebrated this year. The summit adopted a number of documents aimed at further developing strategic partnership. The leaders approved a decision to hold the first ever Russia-ASEAN naval maneuvers. Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will conduct a naval exercise on December 1-3 in the waters of Indonesia. It is the third of such ASEAN+1 maritime drill, after the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise in 2018, and the ASEAN-US Maritime Exercise in 2019.

The exercise is aimed at increasing interoperability between the ASEAN Member States Navies and Russian Navy to ensure the safety of maritime economic activity and civil navigation. ASEAN-Russia Naval Exercice launched in Belawan Bay, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It is planned that H.E. Army Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia, will order to start the exercise from the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev. Indonesia First Fleet Commander Rear Adm. Arsyad Abdullah.

ASEAN officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is an economic union comprising 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia. ASEAN has 10 (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) member states, one candidate (East Timor) member state, and one (Papua New Guinea) observer state.