Portuguese Empire years for the Portuguese to follow up on Dias's voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, though it has also been speculated that other voyages were in fact taking place in secret during this time. Whether or not this was the case, the long-standing Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to Asia was finally achieved in a ground-breaking voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama. The squadron of Vasco da Gama left Portugal in 1497, rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian
Indonesia–Portugal relations Indonesia–Portugal relations Indonesia–Portugal relations are foreign bilateral relations between Indonesia and Portugal. Portuguese explorer and trader first reached Indonesian archipelago during the age of exploration in the 16th century in order to search for spices in the Indies. In 1999, Indonesia and Portugal restored diplomatic relations, which were severed following the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. Indonesia has an embassy in Lisbon and Portugal has an embassy in Jakarta. Since gaining foothold in Southeast Asian region by acquiring port of Malacca in 1511, Portuguese sent exploratory expeditions into Indonesian archipelago, and sought to dominate the sources of valuable