Key points
- Macron rode in a jeep driven by Prabowo with pair welcomed by a marching band
- The French President also visited Borobudur, a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century
- Macron will depart for Singapore to attend Shangri-la Dialogue
ISLAMABAD: French President Emmanuel Macron conferred Indonesia’s leader with France’s top award on Thursday, before announcing a new cultural partnership with Jakarta on a visit to the world’s largest Buddhist temple.
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, according to AFP.
After meeting for talks in the capital Jakarta, French President Macron and his Indonesian 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.
“France’s highest military”
The pair also attended a military parade, and Macron gave Prabowo the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest military or civil award, AFP reported.
Macron rode in a jeep driven by Prabowo with the pair welcomed by a marching band and hundreds of students waving Indonesian flags.
“A Buddhist temple”
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,” AFP cited Macron as saying. “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 cuisine.
The French President will now depart for Singapore where he will deliver the opening address Friday at the Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia’s premier security forum.
