Indonesia is India’s closest maritime neighbour,
separated by 100 nautical miles. Trump administration’s decision to restore the
old name of US Pacific Command, an attempt to de-emphasise the Indo-Pacific, is
now emerging as a powerful regional binding force with PM Modi’s visit to
Indonesia. Revoking the nomenclature adopted in 2017 while extracting the
region from the superpower contestations has prompted the littorals in the
region to align and recentre energies for inclusive growth and prosperity.
PM Modi embarked on a three-nation visit to Indonesia,
Australia and New Zealand on July 6th. Greeted with a historic welcome, with
Indonesian Air Force F-16 and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets escorting Air India One
after entering Indonesian airspace, upon his touchdown, PM Modi was accorded a
gun salute. Warmly received by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and four
Cabinet Ministers on the tarmac, PM Modi’s arrival in Jakarta was marked by
unusual gestures of cordiality.
The high notes of the diplomatic symphony, brimming
with geniality, were witnessed in the grand ceremonial reception accorded to PM
Modi at Istana Merdeka, the Presidential Palace. At the Official banquet,
President Prabowo candidly admitted, “I follow
your career, and I copy many of your programs. I don't mind admitting it
because it succeeds for hundreds of millions of people with the same background
as Indonesia”, and joked, “very happy that there is no copyright” on
PM Modi’s program. The remarks, besides validating the governance initiatives
of PM Modi, endorse the positive results of initiatives adopted from India.
Indonesian delegation toured India to study agricultural innovations, and this
open acknowledgement underscores growing policy cooperation between the
countries.
Displaying a rare camaraderie, President Prabowo
accompanied PM Modi to the Indian Community reception, attended PM Modi’s
address to the Joint Session of Parliament, and conferred on him the highest
civilian award of Indonesia- Bintang
Republik Indonesia Adipurna or Star of the Republic of Indonesia. President
Prabowo’s invocation of “Indian DNA” claims, apart from his earlier revelations
at the Presidential Banquet hosted by President Murmu on his India visit as
Guest of Honour for the Republic Day celebrations in 2025, besides drawing
smiles, highlighted the immense respect he holds for the cultural relationship
with India. His special gesture of riding along with PM Modi for the launch of the
India-assisted restoration of the Prambanan Temples, a display of deep mutual
respect and appreciation for civilisational connections, earned the praise of
millions of Indians.
Built in the
9th century, the Prambanan Temple complex, the largest in Indonesia,
is a magnificent Hindu architectural and engineering marvel. Dedicated to
Trimurti- Bhagwan Shiva, Bhagwan Vishnu and Bhagwan Brahma- it stands as an
enduring symbol of shared civilisational and cultural heritage. By spearheading
the restoration of Hindu heritage centres across South East Asia, India is
reclaiming its civilisational heritage.
PM Modi’s
visit to Indonesia, while setting a new benchmark in bonhomie and friendship,
was compellingly significant in terms of bilateral outcomes. Besides reviving
heritage beyond borders, the comprehensive and intensive discussions laid a
strong foundation for a Free, Open, Inclusive Indo-Pacific. Sitting astride the
crucial trade routes connecting the two oceans, Indonesia and India are the two
most important maritime gatekeepers of the Indo-Pacific region. To beef up
maritime security, countries have renewed a security cooperation arrangement
between the Indian Coast Guard and BAKAMLA RI. Indonesia is also deploying a
Liaison officer to the Information Fusion Centre- Indian Ocean Region
(IFC-IOR).
Indonesia’s
security challenges are twofold. Given its location along the Sea Lines of Communication
(SLOC), ensuring the safety of the waterways is both a matter of national
security and an economic imperative. Additionally, the growing Chinese
incursions into the North Natuna Sea are pushing the archipelago to the edge.
Indonesia’s interest in enhancing engagements in traditional and emerging areas
of defence cooperation stems from evolving security challenges.
Along with the
traditional aspects of cooperation- capacity building, information sharing,
port calls and exchanges to strengthen maritime deterrence- Indonesia is purchasing
India’s supersonic BrahMos missile system and indigenously built beyond-visual-range-air-to-air
(BVRAAM) Astra Mk I missiles, a $630 million deal. Indonesia, which began talks
on the BrahMos in 2021, fast-tracked the process after the missile’s
performance during Operation Sindoor, becoming the third export customer after
the Philippines and Vietnam.
Interestingly,
both BrahMos and Astra missiles can be integrated with Indonesia’s Air fleet
comprising Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets. Indonesia is the first foreign
customer of the Astra missiles. This procurement validates India’s evolving
defence manufacturing capabilities. This also marks a major milestone in
India’s journey as a defence exporter and underscores how defence exports are
becoming an instrument of foreign policy.
While defence
acquisitions would bolster security and provide deterrence for broader economic
and strategic integration, countries agreed to jointly develop Sabang Port,
which overlooks the strategic Malacca Straits. An estimated 75-80% of Chinese
oil imports pass through the Strait. Developing Sabang will help India counter
China’s growing influence and presence in the Indian Ocean Region. Lying at the
northern tip of Sumatra Island, Sabang is 90 nautical miles from Indira Point,
the southernmost point of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, which is India’s
tri-service command centre. India is also working on the mega Great Nicobar
transhipment port.
Sabang can
complement Great Nicobar Port and augment India’s strategic presence in the
Eastern Indian Ocean Region. This can greatly boost its Act East Policy in
terms of connectivity, forward- deployment logistics, and maritime tourism by
expanding trade and unlocking commercial opportunities with Indonesia and
Southeast Asia. By integrating Sabang with the Bay of Bengal ports, countries are
realising the 2018 shared vision on Maritime Cooperation for the Indo-Pacific. Overseeing
the critical maritime corridors and chokepoints Sunda, Lombok, Makassar and
Malacca, Indonesia is the ultimate gatekeeper of the Indo-Pacific. Through the
Sabang collaborative project and the missile hardware, India has created a
defence canopy and an impenetrable maritime domain over the eastern gateway to
the Indian Ocean. Securing access to Sabang will give India’s operational
requirements for refuelling and maritime patrolling a huge fillip.
Sabang, a
submarine base under the Imperial Japanese Navy, was where Netaji Subas Bose
alighted after a daring sub-to-sub (from German to Japanese submarine) transfer
off the coast of Madagascar to take charge of the Indian National Army (INA) in
1943.
Beyond
security and defence and maritime cooperation, the comprehensive strategic
partnership between the countries spans four additional areas - economic and
trade cooperation, health, pharma, food and energy security, people-to-people
relations and civilisational connect. Synergising the developmental visions of
both countries, Viksit Bharat 2047 and Indonesia Emas 2045, and seeking broader
economic integration, the countries are now operationalising guidelines for
trade in national currencies. Bilateral trade with Indonesia, India’s
second-largest trading partner, has expanded from $4.3 billion to $38.34
billion in 2023-24.
With a
population of 288 million, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous
country. The country holds Presidential, national, and regional elections on a
single day. The arduous process of manual vote counting and exhaustion caused
by it led to the death of over 500 election officials in 2019. In 2024 polls, despite
government measures, close to 100 election volunteers died and over 4000 fell
ill. The vital instruments of India’s robust election architecture, the EVMs,
have set a new benchmark for being tamper-proof and accurate. Seeking to
overhaul its voting system, Indonesia has signed an MoU for customising EVM
technology, validating India’s voting system and putting to rest fraudulent
allegations. Marking 100 years of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to
Indonesia, countries have designated 2026-27 as the Tagore-Dewantara Year of
Cultural and Educational Diplomacy.
India has announced plans to establish IIM Bangalore’s first overseas branch at
Singhasari SEZ.
Reliable supplies of critical minerals have become a
strategic priority for countries given their indispensability for the clean
energy missions, defence technology and semiconductors. Monopolisation,
weaponisation and export restrictions have raised concerns over the reliability
of supply chains. West Asian crisis exacerbated it further. In the past two
years, India has signed pacts with 35 countries to secure their access.
Indonesia has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, essential for the clean
energy transition and a raw material for stainless steel. India has signed an
MoU for the development of rare earth magnets. Simultaneously, India’s SAIL is exploring
a JV with Indonesian PT Krakatau Steel for setting up a stainless-steel slab
manufacturing facility in India.
Countries have also signed MoUs on health
collaboration, space exploration, medical products registration, disaster
management, telecommunications technologies and sharing expertise for building an
Open Network based on Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). India pledged
100 tonnes of high-quality DWR 162 Wheat seeds as part of food security
cooperation.
Bilateral ties evolved into a robust Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership during PM Modi’s visit in 2018. The trajectory of
India-Indonesian ties, etched in brotherhood, as PM Modi recalled in his
address to the Joint Session of the Parliament, has important geopolitical lessons.
The shared struggle against imperial rule has been at
the heart of the India-Indonesia brotherhood. India strongly supported Indonesian
sovereignty. The reference to Odisha’s Biju Patnaik’s daring evacuation of
Sukarno is a testament to the strong friendship between the countries. Sukarno was
the Chief Guest for India’s first Republic Day celebrations in 1950. Leaders-PM
Jawaharlal Nehru and President Sukarno championed Afro-Asian solidarity,
anti-colonialism and non-alignment. Indonesia hosted the first Afro-Asian
conference, a precursor to NAM, in Bandung in 1955. But the relations soured after
Nehru refused to back Indonesia’s bid to hold the second edition of the
conference. Driven by grandiose maritime ambitions, Sukarno began to side with
Pakistan.
In a sharp departure from a neutral stand on Kashmir,
Sukarno sided with Pakistan. Indonesia even offered 5000 volunteers to Pakistan
during the 1965 war with India and requested Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to grant
access to its airports. Sukarno reportedly lent a flotilla of six Russian-built
frigates and two submarines to Pakistan. While China hasn’t entered the water,
the Pakistan-China-Indonesia axis emerged as a major security threat for India during
the war. Sukarno planned to seize the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANI) and
declared his plans for the “Indonesian Ocean”. In the early 1960s, Indonesia considered
ANI to be an extension of Sumatra.
Sukarno harboured ambitious maritime plans and made
some aggressive attempts to takeover Papau New Guinea, straining ties with
Australia as well. Stretched for resources to defend the continental frontiers,
India barely had any force to defend the ANI. Six decades hence, India, the
resident power of the Indian Ocean, has steadily emerged as a security provider
for the region. Working under the frameworks of the
East Asia Summit (EAS), the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) and the Indian
Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and guided by the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision,
India and Indonesia have deepened maritime security cooperation. Sabang Port
development and plans for integration with the Great Nicobar Project and the Bay
of Bengal ports are a huge leap forward in the strategic maritime partnership.
As maritime
nations straddling vital trade routes, India and Indonesia are increasingly
positioned as natural security providers of the Indian Ocean region. Anchored
in centuries-old civilisational ties and shaped by contemporary geopolitical
imperatives, the strong personal chemistry between Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and President Prabowo Subianto has transformed diplomatic goodwill into
concrete strategic outcomes, strengthening the comprehensive strategic
partnership and reinforcing a shared vision for a secure, prosperous
Indo-Pacific.
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