JAKARTA: Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto is set to attend a world leaders’ summit in Egypt on Monday (Oct 13) to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza that has been ongoing for more than two years, in a move that an expert told CNA will be closely watched back home.
Prabowo arrived at around 7am local time, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, according to a statement from the Presidential Office.
The peace summit, hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is expected to bring together around 20 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Jordan’s King Abdullah II among others.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also among those scheduled to attend, while Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu purportedly accepted an invitation at the last minute. But Netanyahu’s has since clarified that the prime minister will not be attending the summit.
At the peace summit, Prabowo is expected to witness the signing of a peace and ceasefire agreement on the war in Gaza, according to a statement by his presidential office on Monday.
“President Prabowo’s invitation to the summit demonstrates Indonesia’s important role in promoting peace in the Middle East, particularly the Gaza conflict,” read the statement.
On Monday, the Times of Israel cited an unnamed source as saying that Prabowo will arrive in Israel on Tuesday.
However, this was refuted later on Monday by Indonesia’s foreign minister Sugiono, who was widely reported by local media as saying that Prabowo has no plans to travel to Israel.
“It’s not true. According to the initial plan, the President will return to Indonesia after the event in Egypt concludes,” said Sugiono in a written statement, as reported by online news outlet detik.
