DYNAMICS OF INDIAN-INDONESIAN RELATIONS

India-Indonesia relations have a long history and have been maintaining cultural and trade relations with each other.

- Surbhi Arora

India is the largest country in South Asia and Indonesia is the largest country in South-East Asia. Both the countries have some common factors like cultural affinity, colonial past and geographical proximity. Indonesia’s traditional puppetry and drama tradition called Wayang has been infl uenced by the narratives of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (Trivedi). The Hindu temples in Bali also refl ect the infl uence of Indian culture in Indonesia. The national motto of Indonesia is “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” meaning “unity in diversity, although diff erent still one”, is found in the Indian Constitution. The national symbol of Indonesia is the Garuda bird which finds mention in Ramayana. Its national symbol also contains a banyan tree and a bull head. The banyan tree is the national tree of India and the bull is found in the national symbol of India i.e., in the Ashoka Pillar of Sarnath. This refl ects that the culture and mythology of both countries have infl uenced each other.

India and Indonesia were under British rule for more than two hundred years. Indonesia was under Dutch rule and became fully independent on 17th August, 1945, two years before India became independent. Indonesia became a republic in 1950. After independence, both India and Indonesia faced similar issues like building the nation, economic development, sectarian violence etc. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Sukarno laid the foundation of the Afro-Asian and Non-Aligned Movements at the Bandung Conference in 1955.