India, Indonesia to finalise extradition treaty

New Delhi and Jakarta are expected to finalise an extradition treaty to assist each other in bringing fugitives to justice during Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s upcoming visit to India.

New Delhi and Jakarta are expected to finalise an extradition treaty to assist each other in bringing fugitives to justice during Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s upcoming visit to India.

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Yudhoyono, who is arriving in India on January 24, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. Interestingly, Indonesia’s first president Sukarno was the chief guest at India’s first Republic Day parade in 1950.

Leonard F. Hutabarat, an Indonesian embassy official, said the two countries would also sign a mutual legal assistance treaty during the presidential visit for gathering and exchanging information to enforce laws.

He said MoUs for combating drug trafficking and money laundering were also in the pipeline, apart from possible agreements for cooperation in sectors such as education, metallurgy and science and technology.

Indonesian ambassador Lt Gen Andi M Ghalib (retd) said the two countries would exploit trade opportunities to raise the volume of business from the current $10 billion (Rs 45,000 crore) to $20 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) by 2015.