Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit India on January 25-26 and hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two nations announced yesterday.
In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that Prabowo would be a “chief guest” at the 76th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. The visit will also “provide an opportunity for the leaders to undertake a comprehensive review of bilateral ties as well as to discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest.”
“India and Indonesia share warm and friendly ties spanning over millennia,” the statement said. “As a Comprehensive Strategic Partner, Indonesia is an important pillar in India’s Act East Policy and our vision of the Indo-Pacific.”
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was signed by Modi and former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, in May 2018, with the aim of broadening the economic and security collaborations between the two nations.
In an article published at the time, Udai Bhanu Singh of India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses argued that in addition to their historical role as giants of the non-aligned movement, Indonesia and India were increasingly united by “common strategic interests and concerns,” particularly regarding China’s growing power and ambition. This had the potential to “open up space for cooperation between India and Indonesia,” Singh wrote.
Since the signing of a Defense Agreement in 2018, the two sides have pledged to increase their cooperation on a range of issues, from increased strategic consultations to joint training and military exercises. The countries’ two navies have also undertaken joint patrols of the Indian Ocean since 2002.
Economic relations have also grown, although they arguably lag behind their potential. Indonesia is now India’s largest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and India is the second-largest buyer of Indonesian coal and crude palm oil, two of its largest natural resource exports. India-Indonesia trade reached $29.4 billion in FY2023-24, with the two nations targeting $50 billion by 2025, though even this falls far short of the $139 billion in trade between China and Indonesia in 2023.
As well as arguably reflecting Prabowo’s foreign policy strategy of “multi-alignment,” which has also been demonstrated by Indonesia’s recent decision to join BRICS, Prabowo’s planned visit to India also underscores his focus on major power diplomacy over regional engagement.
Indonesia’s leaders have traditionally reserved their first bilateral state visits for ASEAN neighbors. While President Joko Widodo’s first three overseas trips as president were to China, Myanmar, and Australia, these were all for multilateral summits; Indonesian presidents are inaugurated in October, right before the annual “summit season.” His first three bilateral state visits were to Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines.
In contrast, Prabowo’s first overseas trips after his inauguration were bilateral state visits to China on November 8-10 and the United States on November 10-12. He then visited Peru and Brazil for the APEC and G-20 summits before visiting the United Kingdom on November 20-22. His first visit to an ASEAN country was a one-day “working visit” to Malaysia on January 9.