India, Indonesia Plan Closer Ties Across Fields

India and Indonesia on Saturday decided to diversify their trade basket, work on defence supply chains and cooperate closely on maritime security, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding up the Southeast Asian nation as an "important partner" for maintaining security and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.

- Rezaul H Laskar

Market access, collaboration on infrastructure and connectivity, and cooperation in health care also figured in talks between Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who will be the chief guest for the Republic Day parade on Sunday, 75 years after President Sukarno was accorded the same honour at India's first national day celebration.

"Indonesia is our important partner in the Asean and Indo-Pacific region. We both are committed to maintaining peace, security, prosperity and rules-based order in this entire region," Modi said at a media interaction with Prabowo after their talks. "We agree that freedom of navigation must be ensured in accordance with international laws," he said, speaking in Hindi, in an apparent reference to China's activities in the South China Sea and other regional waters.

Prabowo described India as a "long-time friend" of Indonesia, highlighted New Delhi's role in backing his country's independence struggle, and said: "We consider this partnership very important, and we would like to enhance and accelerate the level of cooperation between us." He emphasised India's role both as a co-founder of the NonAligned Movement and in championing the causes of the Global South and said this cooperation will be "beneficial to global stability and regional cooperation".

Both leaders signalled their desire to increase two-way trade, worth more than $30 billion in 2024. Modi said their talks focused on market access and diversifying the trade basket, and they decided to strengthen cooperation in fintech, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and digital public infrastructure.