“He is keen to make a new beginning. When I say new beginning I don’t mean there doesn’t exist substance in the relationship. It is a strong relationship but I think he wants to enter new areas.”
That was India’s Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty, speaking exclusively on The Gist, on the visit of Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s recently elected president, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade in Delhi on Sunday. The parade, incidentally, will be led by a contingent of the Indonesian Army.
The two countries are maritime neighbours with Indonesia only 160 km from Indira Point, where Indian territory ends. That connection is typified by the evident cultural connect and the people to people interaction over millennia.
“The old kingdom of Nalanda, then Buddhism, Hinduism and even Islam came to Indonesia from India … and during Indonesia’s freedom movement, our nationalist leadership worked very closely with the Indonesian nationalist leadership.”
He pointed to Indonesia’s “free and active foreign policy which matches with our vision of the world, you know strategic autonomy. We don’t want to get into any blocs, the way India handled the Russia-Ukraine issue, I think went down well with Indonesia.”
“We are young democracies, our pathways are digital, we want to get into manufacturing. We don’t want to just trade, we want investment,” Ambassador Chakravorty said, underscoring that “the stories (India Indonesia) are very similar. That creates spaces and opportunities for new bonds to emerge.”
On reports about Indonesia joining BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical & Economic Cooperation — members Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand), Ambassador Chakravorty was circumspect.
“BIMSTEC recently changed its charter to allow new members to come in, so that’s a new development. I am not aware if we have made any formal approach to other countries but that’s certainly a possibility.”
He acknowledged “continuous discussion with Indonesia and there has been an expression of interest in acquiring defence systems. Brahmos is one of them but I would not say it has reached any maturity. There is a lot of interest in Indonesia in our defence industrialisation.”
Tune in for more in this discussion with Sandeep Chakravorty, India’s Ambassador to Indonesia.
