jakarta [इंडोनेशिया]July 8 (ANI): During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Indonesia, India and Indonesia held wide-ranging discussions on expanding maritime cooperation, including India's Great Nicobar Islands project and cooperation on Indonesia's Sabang port, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
Speaking to the media at a special press briefing after PM Modi's talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Rudrendra Tandon said that the issue of maritime cooperation figured prominently in the discussions between PM Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. "You would recall that when the Prime Minister visited Indonesia in 2018, the two countries unveiled a common vision on maritime cooperation. So there was discussion on taking that vision forward," he said.
He said the discussions included mutual maritime domain awareness, maritime connectivity and expansion of cooperation between the coast guard forces of the two countries. Tandon said, "In this regard, we are very pleased to note that it has been decided to appoint a Liaison Officer for Indonesia to the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram, India."
He also highlighted the geographical proximity between the two countries despite the distance between their capitals. He said, "As the Prime Minister remarked, our capitals may be thousands of kilometers apart, but we are maritime neighbours. There is a distance of 150 kilometers between our two islands in Andaman and Nicobar and the nearest island of Indonesia."
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two sides also exchanged views on strategic infrastructure projects. "Interest was also expressed by the Indonesian side in India's Great Nicobar Islands project, and the Prime Minister also expressed interest in the development of Sabang Port," Tandon said.
He said the two countries agreed to take forward the work of the Joint Task Force established after the 2018 Maritime Perspectives. Tandon said, "If you remember, in 2018, when the common vision was brought forward, both sides had set up a joint task force. Two meetings have already taken place, and we hope to have the third meeting soon this year."
He also mentioned that an MoU to renew cooperation between the coast guard forces of the two countries was signed on the sidelines of the visit.
Additionally, Tandon said the two leaders held detailed discussions on taking forward the comprehensive strategic partnership in key areas. "The focus now was on what would be the agenda ahead for our comprehensive partnership in all the six core areas that characterize our bilateral relations, starting from security and defence," he said.
Tandon said both sides agreed that defense cooperation should go beyond military exchanges to closer cooperation between defense industries. "Today's discussions focused on how we can advance this to include collaboration between our defense industries," he said.
He further said, "As you know, Indian defense industries have achieved considerable maturity and technical expertise in some areas that are of interest to the Indonesian side. So there was a discussion on how we can now create a framework within which our defense companies can start cooperating with each other."
Without elaborating on specific commercial arrangements, Tanden said the discussions included shipping, weapons systems and missile-domain cooperation.
On economic relations, Tandon said both countries agreed that bilateral trade, which currently stands at about US$25 billion, does not reflect the size of their economies. "We have set a target for ourselves. Currently, bilateral trade is around US$25 billion. This does not reflect the size of our economies, the size of our markets," he said.
He said the discussions focused on expanding cooperation in pharmaceuticals, food processing, digital infrastructure and innovation ecosystem.
Referring to healthcare cooperation, Tandon said, "India is known as the pharmacy of the world. Indonesia has an extensive public health system that requires high quality medicines at low prices. This was identified as a potential area of cooperation."
The MEA official also said both sides emphasized on strengthening historical and civilizational ties through greater engagement between universities and educational institutions. “There were also discussions on expanding our relations between our universities,” he said, adding that there have been agreements for major Indian universities to set up campuses in Indonesia.
Describing the atmosphere during the visit, Tanden said the Prime Minister was exceptionally warmly welcomed by the Indonesian leadership. “The hospitality, the warmth, the friendship was tremendous,” he said.
He said President Prabowo's decision to personally receive Prime Minister Modi at the airport and later attend a welcoming ceremony for the Indian community reflects the close ties between the two countries. "It was an extraordinary summit. The Prime Minister was very warmly welcomed by the President," Tandon said. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
