Singapore/Jakarta: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was thousands of kilometres from troubles at home and at the top of his international game.

In Egypt for last week’s big summit on Gaza and Israel – and the only South-East Asian leader to score an invitation – he rubbed shoulders with world powerbrokers and mused over Middle East peace, even stealing some face time with US President Donald Trump, with whom he has built an ingratiating, thus good, rapport.

President Donald Trump and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Gaza summit in Egypt.Credit: Getty Images

For purposes that the nearby hot mic failed to pick up, Prabowo used the opportunity to ask for a meeting with Eric or Don Jr, the US president’s sons and business proxies.

Eric would call, Trump said.

Curious stuff.

Still, there he was, dealing with the most consequential human in the world. Prabowo has met more formally with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, which, though prompting hand-wringing in Australia, is the expression of Indonesia’s hardwired “free and active” foreign policy, or, in Prabowo’s borrowed words: “One enemy too many, 1000 friends too few”.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (front left) joins Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders in Beijing last month.Credit: AP

When he marks one year in office on Monday, the ex-general and former Suharto son-in-law will have notched up presidential visits to 24 countries, thrashing out Indonesia’s admission to the BRICS forum for emerging economies, trade deals with Europe and Canada, and making the case for Indonesia to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and........

© The Sydney Morning Herald