Star Metro - Macron decorates Indonesia leader, announces cultural partnership

Macron's trip to Indonesia is the second stop of a three-nation, six-day tour of Southeast Asia that began with Vietnam and concludes in Singapore.

After meeting for talks in the capital Jakarta, Macron and his counterpart Prabowo Subianto flew by helicopter on Thursday from Javan city Yogyakarta to a military academy in Magelang, a city in Central Java surrounded by mountains.

The pair attended a military parade and Macron gave Prabowo the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, France's highest military or civil award.

Prabowo is an ex-general accused of rights abuses under dictator Suharto's rule in the late 1990s. He was discharged from the military over his role in the abductions of democracy activists but denied the allegations and was never charged.

Macron rode in a jeep driven by Prabowo with the pair welcomed by a marching band and hundreds of students waving Indonesian flags.

Macron then visited Borobudur, a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century that is the world's largest, where the pair announced they were boosting cultural ties.

"In front of this temple, we are taking an important step by launching a new cultural partnership," said Macron.

"The first pillar is heritage and museum cooperation. The second pillar is cultural and creative industries," he said.

Macron said the basis of the new partnership would be cinema and fashion, as well as video games, design and gastronomy.

The French leader will now depart for Singapore where he will deliver the opening address Friday at the Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum.

On Wednesday, the pair called for progress on "mutual recognition" between Israel and the Palestinians at a key meeting next month as Macron brought the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation into his diplomatic efforts.

"Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognises Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognise Israel and open the diplomatic relationship," said Prabowo.

Indonesia has no formal ties with Israel and support for the Palestinian cause among Indonesians runs high.

The nations also signed a series of agreements on cooperation in a range of fields including defence, trade, agriculture, disaster management, culture and transport.

P.Graham--SMC