Few nations in the world outside the Subcontinent are closer to India in terms of geography, history, culture, and modern political orientation than Indonesia. Yet, the relationship has never acquired the quantitative intensity and qualitative salience that it deserves. The visit of Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto this week to Delhi as the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day celebrations will hopefully help lend the much-needed strategic content to the bilateral relationship. Indonesian leaders have been among the most frequent guests at the annual R-Day celebrations. Indonesian leader Sukarno was indeed the chief guest at the very first such celebrations in 1950. Hopes for a productive bilateral relationship and a shared leadership of post-colonial Asia as the founding members of the non-aligned movement never really materialised as Delhi and Jakarta drifted apart during the Cold War. It was only since the 1990s, when India sought to reconnect with South East Asia, that the relationship with Indonesia has begun to grow. Despite India’s Act East Policy and the importance Delhi attaches to the Indo-Pacific, India’s partnership with Indonesia remains well below its potential.
President Subianto’s visit should help the Indian establishment and the foreign policy community to better appreciate the strategic significance of Indonesia. It is the fourth largest by population in the world. With its economy at $1.4 trillion, Indonesia is well poised to power its way into the top 10 economies of the world by 2030. As a large archipelagic nation, the thousands of Indonesian islands are the bridge between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The sea lines of communication traversing the Indonesian waters form the lifeline of global commerce between East Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Rich in natural resources, Indonesia is vital for the economic growth of India and the rest of Asia. Indonesia also forms the backbone of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the centre of regional economic integration as well as political and security consultations.
As he arrives in India, the popular approval of Subianto, who took charge of the nation last October, is soaring beyond 80 per cent. Coming to Delhi quite early in his tenure, the Indonesian President is well placed to give a big boost to the bilateral relationship. Delhi and Jakarta need to accelerate the trade relations currently at a paltry $30 billion, make a vigorous effort to deepen the interaction between the two economies, enhance connectivity, bring together the tech communities, intensify maritime security cooperation, step up military exchanges, and launch defence industrial collaboration. At a time when great power relations are in a flux and the Indo-Pacific has become the principal arena of global contestation, Delhi and Jakarta need to rediscover the logic of bilateral and regional cooperation that brought them together in the middle of the 20th century. Delhi, however, will be wise to avoid viewing the relationship with Jakarta through the lens of China or a crude geopolitical prism. Indonesia has a strong tradition of following balanced relations with all the major powers. Delhi should focus on advancing the partnership with Jakarta to realise the full potential of bilateral cooperation and promote peace and prosperity in Asia.
