India, Indonesia Decide To Boost Defence And Trade Ties

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, on a three-day visit to India, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations at Kartavya Path on Sunday.

New Delhi:India and Indonesia on Saturday agreed to give new momentum to the overall bilateral ties and especially concurred on working jointly in the areas of defence manufacturing and supply chains, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for wide-ranging talks.

Subianto, on a three-day visit to India, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations at Kartavya Path on Sunday. In his media statement following the talks, Modi described Indonesia as an "important partner" of India in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc as well as in the Indo-Pacific, noting that both countries are committed to a rules-based order in the region.

"We agree that the freedom of navigation should be ensured in line with international law," Modi said amid growing global concerns over China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We held extensive discussions on various aspects of our bilateral ties," the prime minister said, adding that India and Indonesia have agreed to work jointly on defence manufacturing and supply chains.

An agreement signed between India and Indonesia on Saturday in the maritime security sphere will further strengthen cooperation in crime prevention, search and rescue and capacity building, Modi said. He said both sides talked about the need to diversify the trade basket and market access to boost the overall economic ties.

"We decided to strengthen cooperation in areas like FinTech, artificial intelligence, internet of things and digital public infrastructure," the prime minister noted.

He also said that both sides laid stress on cooperation in maritime security, cyber security, counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation. In the talks, the Indian side also welcomed Indonesia's BRICS membership.

In his remarks, the Indonesian leader described the talks as "very frank" and said both sides have agreed to expand cooperation in many key sectors of common interest.

"I have given directions to our officials that we need to accelerate the economic partnership with India," Subianto said.