India Indonesia Relations

India Indonesia Relation Recent PM Visit

·         Both Dr. Singh and Mr. Yudhoyono are currently in the final lap of their second terms in power.

·         India and Indonesia’s youthful demographic profile and expanding middle-class consumer base have led many an excitable investment banker to mark them as the economies to watch.

·         India is the world’s largest democracy and Indonesia its third largest one.

·         The two countries are also home to the largest (Indonesia) and third largest (India) number of Muslims in the world. Both are members of important multilateral forums like the G-20 and East Asia Summit.

·         India and Indonesia are maritime neighbours. Given that Indonesia rules the major waterways between the Indian and Pacific Oceans—- waters through which more than half of all international maritime trade passes — the strategic significance of the relationship looms large. In fact India’s 2009 maritime strategy document listed the Sunda and Lombok straits, both under Indonesian control, as major choke points with complicating potential for Indian interests. Cooperation with Indonesia is a prerequisite to enable the Indian Navy’s operations in these waters. Joint coastal monitoring has been ongoing since 2010, but there is a need to step up this cooperation, including joint maritime exercises and training.

·         The relationship with Indonesia has also assumed greater importance in the context of China’s rise and expanding regional reach. Both India and Indonesia have the potential to act as balancing powers and can aid each other in their mutual goals of engaging China to benefit from its economic might, while ensuring that Beijing’s power is not untrammelled. In recent months Indonesia has been playing the mediator’s role within Asean to find a solution to China’s maritime disputes with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.

·         Counter-terrorism is another field where Indonesia and India should deepen their cooperation. They have both suffered from major terrorist attacks by radical Islamist groups in the last decade.

·         Economic relations between the two countries, another focus of Dr. Singh’s visit, are not insubstantial. Two-way trade was worth around $21.3 billion in 2012.

Forty-six per cent of India’s trade with Indonesia consists of palm oil imports. Indonesia is also India’s biggest supplier of coal, with some 76 per cent of Indian coal imports originating there. While there is some Indian investment in Indonesia, focused on automotives (Tata Motors has just launched three models of cars), textiles, steel and banking, talks on a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) have yet to take off.

·         Indonesia has a large Indian diaspora, many of whom play an influential role in the Indonesian economy. Yet, India has failed to exploit these connections. The lack of direct flights connecting India and Indonesia is a dampener on business as well as people-to-people exchanges.

·         In contrast, the Chinese diaspora is an active economic bridge between mainland China and Indonesia. Indonesia’s trade with China stands tellingly at $66 billion.

Joint Statement

The Leaders agreed to adopt a five-pronged initiative for strengthening the Strategic Partnership

1.      Strategic Engagement

·         hold Annual  Summits, including on the margins of multi lateral  events

·         Joint Working Groups  on Education, Tourism, Coal , Oil  and Gas, Agriculture, Counter Terrorism and Science & Technology

·         regular exchange of delegations between the two Parliaments have helped in sharing views, experiences and best practices

·         acknowledged  the  increasing  intensity of  collaboration  between  the  Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the National  Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN)

·         Cooperation regarding the Utilization of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful  Purposes

2.      Defence and Security Cooperation

·         commencement of the Defence Ministers’ Dialogue  and  regular  convening  of  the  Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC)

·         closer  collaboration  on  capacity building  and  exchange of best practices in  the field of maritime security and hold joint exercises

·         enhance bi lateral cooperation  in  combating  terrorism,  terrorist financing, money laundering, arms smuggling, trafficking in human beings, and cyber crime

3.      Comprehensive Economic Partnership

·         expressed  confidence in achieving  the bilateral  trade  target of US $25 billion by 2015

·         launch of negotiations on an India-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that would build upon the ASEAN-India FTA by bringing more depth and coverage

·         cooperate in promotion of energy efficiency technologies, new and renewable energy technologies, with the shared aspiration to ensure energy security

·         highlighted the importance of food security for the peoples of both countries and agreed to work together and with other partners towards concrete actions in food security mechanisms, research and development and in international  bodies

·         direct flight connectivity for trade and tourism

4.      Cultural and People-to-People Links

·         build upon the close historical  and cultural  links through promotion of art, literature, music and dance  under the Cultural  Exchange Programme

·         work on the  institutionalization  of  university-to-university  linkages  to  facilitate  faculty  exchange,  teachers training, double-degree programmes

5.      Cooperation in Responding to Common Challenges

·         Realizing that the international  community faced common challenges of increasing the momentum of global  economic recovery, both sides agreed that as key members of the international  community, India and Indonesia must work together effectively in fora like the UN, UNFCC, WMO, WTO and the G-20 to help achieve consensus on common and collective approaches to these important issues

·         as two large countries straddling the Indian Ocean, have a  high  stake  in  ensuring  the  effectiveness  of  Indian  Ocean  Rim  Association  for  Regional   Cooperation (IORARC)  in  promoting  regional   cooperation  in  the  fields  of  Mari time  Safety  &  Security,  Trade  and Investment  Facilitation

MOU signed

1        Health cooperation.

2        Combating Corruption.

3        Combating Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics, Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors.

4        Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management.

5        Public Administration

6        World Affair

     

     written by - atul yadav