Saudi crown prince to visit Indonesia

Indonesia will host Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit next week, Jakarta said yesterday, part of an Asian tour that includes stops in Pakistan, India and Malaysia. His two-day visit to the world’s biggest Muslim majority country kicks off Monday, the prince’s second official visit to the archipelago.

“He will arrive in Indonesia on February 18, and meet the president on February 19,” presidential spokesman Johan Budi said. The crown prince is scheduled to visit Pakistan and Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia and then he heads to India. Salman last visited Indonesia with King Salman in 2017 as part of an Asian tour seeking investment opportunities.

At that time, Jakarta and Riyadh signed a range of agreements from trade and aviation to boosting cooperation in science, health and fighting crime. They also inked an agreement involving Aramco and Indonesia’s Pertamina to expand a multi-billion-dollar oil refinery in the Southeast Asian nation.