Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is scheduled to visit Indonesia for bilateral talks on Feb 19, according to Indonesian officials, his first visit to the country since the controversy surrounding the Middle Eastern nation’s involvement in the murder of The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the no-notification execution of an Indonesian domestic worker last year.
MBS’ planned visit to Indonesia was confirmed by the vice president’s office yesterday, which said that the Saudi prince is stopping by Indonesia as part of his Asian tour, which will also include visits to Pakistan, China and Malaysia, among others.
“The plan is [for MBS] to arrive on the evening of February 18. On the morning of February 19 there will be a bilateral event with the president,” the vice president’s spokesperson Hussain Abdullah told Detik.
“In the afternoon [MBS] will be received by the vice president and they will together open a business forum in Jakarta.”
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry says it’s still ironing out the details of MBS’ planned visit to Indonesia, during which the prince will discuss the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries with President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Indonesia, as the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, generally enjoys a friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia. That relationship was tested last year when Saudi executed an Indonesian domestic worker, Tuty Tursilawati, without giving any prior notification to the Indonesian government or her family, in October.
However, despite the outrage in Indonesia surrounding Tuty’s execution, the government’s reaction to it was relatively muted, as President Jokowi only said he “regrets” Saudi executing an Indonesian national without notification. The Saudi ambassador to Indonesian justified Tuty’s execution by saying “God willing, she will be a resident of heaven.”
The last Saudi royal to visit Indonesia in an official capacity was MBS’ father King Salman, who was greeted with huge fanfare in Indonesia in 2017. He and his entourage were also accused of unnecessary extravagance for spending an estimated IDR300 billion (US$21.2 million) during a week-long holiday in Bali.
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