Mohammed bin Salman invites Prabowo to visit Saudi Arabia

Jakarta, July 20 (ANTARA) - Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal bin Abdullah H. Amodi has handed over Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman's letter of invitation to President-elect Prabowo Subianto to visit Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Faisal submitted the letter to Prabowo, concurrently defense minister in President Joko Widodo's cabinet lineup, during his courtesy call at the Defence Ministry here Thursday.

As reported earlier, Prabowo had visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on June 12 shortly after attending an emergency international conference on Gaza, held in Amman, Jordan.

During the visit, he met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, better known as MBS.

At his meeting with MBS, Prabowo expressed his belief that the Saudi Arabian crown prince could play a greater role in defending justice and humanity for the People of Palestine in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, at their meeting, Prabowo and Ambassador Faisal agreed to strengthen the two countries' defense cooperation particulary in education for military top brass and joint drills.

According to Head of Public Relations Bureau at the Office of the Defence Ministry's Secretary General Brig Gen Edwin Adrian Sumantha, they also agreed to add the number of military personnel who participate in education, courses, and joint drills in Indonesia.

The defense cooperation has become part of common areas of interest to strengthen the two countries' bilateral ties, he said, adding that Prabowo also emphasized a need to increase cooperation in defense industry.