Russia, Indonesia to hold first-ever joint military drill

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia and Indonesia will hold their first ever joint naval exercises Orruda in November, according to the Russian ambassador to eastern nation on Saturday.

“In November, a group of ships from the Pacific Fleet will make a friendly visit to the port of Surabaya. It will be three of our modern corvettes. Such visits of our various ships happen almost every year," Sergey Tolchenov said in an interview with TASS news agency.

Indonesia, for its turn, pays friendly visits to Russian ports, Tolchenov noted.

"In November, in connection with this visit (of Russian ships), there will be the first large-scale naval exercises of Russia and Indonesia," he said, adding that in the future the drill could be held regularly -- once every two years.

“Then perhaps one day we could conduct such exercises not in the waters near Indonesia, but, let’s say, in the part of the world ocean that is closer to the Russian Far East. There are many different possibilities here,” the diplomat said.

The name "Orruda" is an acronym for the state symbols of the two nations -- Russian eagle (Oryol in Russian), and Indonesian "garuda" -- the mythical king of birds.

"The eagle is on the Russian coat of arms, and garuda is on the Indonesian one. Everyone will see them - our friends and our enemies," Tolchenov said.

The diplomat emphasized that Russia conducts similar joint exercises with many nations, and they are not directed against the third parties.