French President Emmanuel Macron bestowed Indonesia's leader with France's top award during a visit to a military base on Thursday, May 29, before a trip to the world's largest Buddhist temple. After meeting for talks in the capital Jakarta, Macron and his counterpart Prabowo Subianto flew by helicopter on Thursday 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 Honor, France's highest military or civil award.
Macron and Prabowo rode in a jeep with the pair welcomed by a marching band and hundreds of students waving Indonesian flags. 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.
On Wednesday, Macron and Prabowo 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 recognizes Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognize 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. Macron's visit to Indonesia is the second stop of a three-nation, six-day tour of Southeast Asia that began with Vietnam and concludes in Singapore. Macron will deliver the opening address Friday at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier security forum.