Indonesia, Russia sign arms pact as Putin visits

Under the agreement, Russia is providing a line of credit for Jakarta to use to buy its helicopters, tanks and submarines.

The deal was among a slew of agreements, including on energy, mining and counter-terrorism, sealed during Putin's stop in Indonesia, the first by a Russian or Soviet leader in nearly five decades.

The Russian president, accompanied by a large delegation of energy, banking and weapons industry representatives, met with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for bilateral talks.

Yudhoyono told a press conference that the two nations' defence cooperation "will be improved in order to modernise our arms and military equipment for the navy, air force and army with a one-billion-dollar credit scheme."

The arms agreement follows Indonesia's signing of a deal to buy six Sukhoi-30 fighter planes at a Moscow airshow last month and is seen as a move to help it reduce its dependence on US weaponry.