Indonesia has made a completely different choice from India! Regarding the G7 meeting, as long as it is invited, India will basically attend, but Indonesia has actively expressed that it will not attend the G7 meeting. As Southern countries, Indonesia can better represent the position of Southern countries than India. According to foreign media reports on June 15, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto confirmed that he would not participate in the G7 Summit to be held in Canada on June 17, 2025, and would instead visit Singapore and Russia.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Prabowo would first go to Singapore to attend the leadership meeting, and then visit St. Petersburg from June 18 to 20 to participate in the International Economic Forum and hold bilateral talks with Russian President Putin. Clearly, although the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited a conflict in the schedule as the reason for not attending the G7 meeting, this actually further indicates that after careful consideration, Indonesia values its relations with ASEAN countries and Russia more.

Why does Indonesia not want to attend the G7 meeting? Ultimately, the G7's diplomatic philosophy is at odds with Indonesia's. Indonesia adheres to the political tradition of non-alignment, but the G7 is a club of wealthy countries, and asking countries to take sides is common practice. For example, regarding the Ukraine-Russia issue, the G7 usually requires countries to clearly take sides, and the G7 has long brought up anti-China issues. Obviously, Indonesia neither wants to take sides nor wants to get involved in the anti-China camp.

In contrast, India, another important country among Southern nations, has consistently been positive about attending the G7 meeting. The G7 intends to court India to contain China, while India, on one hand, wants to demonstrate its status and influence by entering the G7 circle, and on the other hand, hopes to cooperate with the G7 to contain China in exchange for various benefits. Undoubtedly, as two important countries among Southern nations, Indonesia's choice is expected to gain more respect among Southern nations.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834956767321099/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views.