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Missiles, minerals mark new phase in India-Indonesia ties; BrahMos, Astra deals sealed
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said both sides want an Indo-Pacific region that is open and transparent, with an order-based international law.
India and Indonesia on Tuesday concluded a raft of agreements, including deals for the supply of Brahmos and Astra missiles and cooperation in critical minerals and maritime security, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Prabowo Subianto emphasised the importance of the bilateral partnership in upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Indonesia was the first stop on Modi’s nearly week-long three-nation tour, which will also take him to Australia and New Zealand. The visit is aimed at bolstering economic and security cooperation, with the focus on strengthening defence ties and collaboration on technology and commodities such as rare earths, against the backdrop of China’s continuing assertiveness across the region.
Following talks with Prabowo at the Merdeka presidential palace in Jakarta, Modi told a joint media interaction that the growing trust between the two countries has strengthened cooperation in defence, security and the maritime domain. The Coast Guard forces of both sides will work together to boost maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean, he said.
“We are making significant strides across every domain of cooperation, including development, security, technology, culture and education,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi. “I am confident that today marks the beginning of a new golden chapter in the India-Indonesia partnership. This new chapter will have a profound and positive impact on the world of the 21st century and on humanity.”
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Prabowo said Indonesia and India are committed to strengthening cooperation to maintain regional peace and stability. “We continue to support various efforts to advance global peace and stability, and ensure that voices from the Global South are heard,” he said. “In the region, Indonesia and India remain committed to creating a free, open, transparent and law-abiding Indo-Pacific while upholding Asean centrality.”
The two leaders also discussed global issues and backed the peaceful resolution of conflicts and respect for international law. “In this period of global turbulence, India believes the role of dialogue and diplomacy has become more important than ever before. On the issue of Palestine, we continue to support a two-state solution and the pursuit of lasting peace,” Modi said in a nod to Indonesia’s concerns about the Palestinian issue.
Prabowo added, “Both countries continue to support diplomatic dialogue and international law for peaceful conflict resolution in the Middle East.”
The conclusion of agreements for the supply of BrahMos cruise missiles and Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles to Indonesia’s armed forces was announced during the joint media interaction. BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture, signed a contract with Indonesia’s defence ministry for the BrahMos missile system, while state-run Bharat Dynamics Limited inked a deal with Republikorp, Indonesia’s leading private defence holding company, for the Astra missile.
Neither side provided details of the defence deals, and people familiar with the matter said India is expected to supply two batteries of the BrahMos missile system, including missiles, launchers and radars, as part of Indonesia’s effort to modernise its military. Indonesia initially sought only one battery but this was later increased to two, they said. Earlier reports had said the deal would be worth about $350 million.
Indonesia is the third Asean member state, after the Philippines and Vietnam, to acquire the BrahMos cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia. The missile proved its lethality during last year’s conflict with Pakistan. This was the first time that a deal for the BrahMos was announced at a media interaction between the top leadership of the two countries.
The deal for the Astra missile, indigenously developed by India, marks possibly the first export of the system. The external affairs ministry said these deals demonstrated the capability of India’s defence industry and boosted defence exports.
The two sides also announced the posting of an Indonesian liaison officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), which plays a crucial role in tracking shipping and monitoring threats such as maritime terrorism and piracy. The centre has liaison officers from 17 countries, including Australia, France, Singapore, the UK and the US.
Prabowo reaffirmed Indonesia's commitment to strengthen maritime connectivity with India through the joint development of ports in Aceh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “I express my support for the development of ports in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the development and expansion of Sabang port in Aceh as a strategic link between Sabang Island and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India,” he said.
India has expressed interest in developing Sabang port and the two sides have held talks on the issue in fits and starts. Sabang, located on Weh island in Aceh, lies 700 km southeast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and 160 km from the Great Nicobar project. Both locations overlook the northern entrance of the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints through which a large share of global trade passes.
The two sides further said there had been progress in talks to link India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) digital payment system. Modi said both systems will be integrated soon, enhancing ease of doing business and ease of travel, while Prabowo noted there was “encouraging progress” in the discussions.
“The system is expected to improve transaction efficiency while strengthening the resilience of the financial sector,” Prabowo said, adding that the two sides are also accelerating talks on an Indonesia-India preferential trade agreement and the review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
The two sides signed a total of 16 cooperation documents, including memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in minerals and technology for the steel supply chain, developing rare earth magnets, cooperation in agriculture, and cooperation in regulating medical products, and a strategic joint venture between the Steel Authority of India and Pt Krakatau Steel for setting up a stainless steel slab manufacturing facility in Indonesia.
They also inked an MoU on cooperation in telecommunications technologies and MoUs between India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Management and between the Election Commission of India and Indonesia’s General Elections Commission.
Modi said the move to establish an overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Bangalore at Indonesia’s Singhasari SEZ will benefit young people across the Asean region. Prabowo also backed establishing a local campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to strengthen Indonesia’s education sector. Indonesia is also encouraging an increase in the number of Indonesian students studying in India, he said.
India announced it will supply 100 tonnes of high-quality DWR 162 wheat seeds to Indonesia, and launch the Indonesia Open Network, based on India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) architecture. The Indian side will assist in the conservation and restoration of the 9th-century Prambanan temple complex at Yogyakarta, which Modi and Probowo are set to launch during a visit on Wednesday.
According to a joint statement, the two sides welcomed the early conclusion of an MoU on counter-terrorism cooperation, which will be signed in the “near future”. Modi and Prabowo strongly condemned all forms of terrorism and agreed to enhance cooperation, including the sharing of information, to counter the menace. They also called for action against globally proscribed terrorists and entities and a zero-tolerance approach to countering terrorism.
Modi said the two countries will celebrate the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Indonesia alongside the legacy of Indonesia’s first education minister Ki Hajar Dewantara. “His educational philosophy was profoundly influenced by the ideas of Gurudev Tagore. In recognition of this shared intellectual and cultural legacy, India and Indonesia will commemorate this centenary as the Tagore-Dewantara year of cultural and educational diplomacy,” he said.
Prabowo conferred the Bintang Adipurna or the Order of the Republic of Indonesia (First Class), the country’s highest civilian honour, on Modi for his contributions to strengthening bilateral ties. Past recipients of the award include former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and South African president Nelson Mandela.
