Indonesia joins BRICS: President Prabowo's plan to forge an independent Indonesian trajectory

On January 10, 2025, the new Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono said that Jakarta's decision to fully join the BRICS is a step towards becoming "a great nation that will become the voice of the Global South."

Rejecting accusations of joining an autocratic bloc, he emphasized that President Prabowo Subianto's administration would soon join the OECD and CPTPP and thus balance its "neutrality."

According to Sugiono, the main task of Indonesian foreign policy for 2025 will be economic expansion to new markets in the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America.

Sugiono, formerly a member of the right-wing populist Gerindra party, built his career as Prabowo Subianto's personal secretary. Because of this, his words are equated with the positions of the Indonesian President himself.