Indonesia to get Russian credits for arms purchase

Indonesia will get credits from Russia amounting to 1 billion U.S. dollars to buy arms, an Indonesian diplomat said Tuesday.

Indonesia will use part of the credit to buy Sukhoi jet fighters, said Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Susanto Pudjomartono.

A team from the Ministry of Defense visited Moscow two weeks ago to discuss the purchase of jets and other military equipment, he said.

"I heard that there had been an agreement from the Russian government to offer a credit of 1 billion dollars for the Indonesian military to buy arms," he was quoted by the semi- official Antara news agency as saying.

The arms purchase will also include helicopters and submarines, he added.

A bigger team of defense officials will visit Russia in April for further discussion, he added.

Source: Xinhua