TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - When Rico Sirait, Chief of the Defense Information Bureau at Indonesia’s Defense Ministry, was about to sit down for an interview with Tempo about the ministry’s cooperation with companies owned by Gaurav Srivastava, he was still at Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi. That was why, on the afternoon of Friday, May 8, 2026, Rico promised to grant the interview five days later. “Please come to my office if you still feel your questions have not been answered,” he said.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Rico finally explained the status of the cooperation between the Defense Ministry and Srivastava’s companies. Accompanied by three staff members, he responded to Tempo’s findings. However, Rico requested that the meeting be off the record and not quoted.
According to Tempo’s investigation, the cooperation began in December 2020, when Srivastava joined the delegation of acting United States Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, accompanied by Kash Patel, who is now Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during their visit to Indonesia.
Photographs obtained by Tempo show Miller and Srivastava meeting with Prabowo Subianto—then Indonesia’s Defense Minister—at the Gerindra Party General Chair’s residence on Jalan Kertanegara in South Jakarta. Among the topics discussed was the potential sale of US fighter jets to Indonesia.
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