India & Indonesia Bond on Republic Day Eying Indo-Pacific
President Droupadi Murmu shows Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto Photograph of 1st RDay Celebrations Image credit X.com
India Looks Beyond China in Deepening Ties with Indonesia
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, January 26: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday attended the 76 Republic Day celebrations. President Droupadi Murmu at a reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan showed Subianto a photograph of the first Republic Day celebrations.
Former Indonesian President Sukarno had graced the occasion in New Delhi. Indonesian President’s holding the centre stage in India on Sunday is widely being commented upon for geopolitical significance.
A new entrant to BRICS, Indonesia had passed on the presidency of G20 in 2022 to India. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had established contacts in Bali on the sidelines of G20 amid military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Afterwards, China officially referred to ‘Bali Consensus’ to diffuse tension with India on the line of actual control (LAC).
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In diplomatic community, Indonesia is seen straddling the geopolitical Faultline with elan. Indonesia is close to China. Yet, Indonesia is also openly friendly with the US.
Ken Moriyasu, a Nikkei Asia correspondent in Washington, spotlighted the order of the telephone calls made by the US Secretary of the State Marco Rubio. He said that Rubio’s first contact was with India. The eighth contact was with Indonesia, added the Japanese journalist.
“Eight with the Indo-Pacific, five with the Middle East, three in the Americas, one with Türkiye, and one with Europe (Poland),” said Moriyasu in a post on X, while decoding the significance of Rubio’s apparent priorities.
Modi also spotlighted the strategic significance of Indonesia in his remarks after holding a bilateral at the Hyderabad House yesterday. “Indonesia was at the core of our Act East Policy. India and Indonesia are closely cooperating in various multilateral platforms as well,” remarked the Prime Minister.
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Subianto reciprocated the warmth. “This partnership will be a solid foundation for both countries to continue moving forward, strengthening the friendship that has existed for 75 years. I also express my gratitude for India’s warm welcome to Indonesia’s membership in BRICS,” said the Indonesian President in a post on X.
Both the countries signs papers to “deepen relations in areas such as security, defence manufacturing, trade, FinTech, AI, food security, energy and disaster management”. “This cooperation covers various important areas such as economy, health, maritime security, investment, culture, and digital infrastructure development,” added the Indonesian President.
Maritime security is a key focus area of Quad, the four nations grouping consisting of India, the US, Japan, and Australia. Indonesia and Australia are key partners.
Besides, India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) also hopes for Indonesian cooperation for success. Modi in 2018 had outlined the IPOI at the Shangri-La Dialogue, listing “Maritime security; maritime ecology; maritime resources; capacity building and resource sharing; disaster risk reduction and management; science, technology and academic cooperation; trade, connectivity and maritime transport” as focus areas.
“India has been an important friend of Indonesia since the beginning of the struggle for independence, and India’s support in recognizing Indonesia’s independence is a history that we will always remember,” added Subianto in his further remarks on ties with India.
Indonesia with Subianto at the helm is seeking global footprints beyond the ASEAN. At the same time, Indonesia assures India and the West with calming influence over Beijing in events if China shows red eyes to the world.
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