Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthcoming visit to Indonesia comes at a time when India has an opportunity to transform one of Asia’s most under-realised bilateral relationships into one of its most valuable strategic partnerships.
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India and Indonesia are the two largest democracies in the Indo-Pacific, major maritime powers, G20 members, and influential voices of the Global South. Yet despite sharing strategic interests and civilizational ties, their contemporary partnership continues to underperform.
The visit should be viewed as an opportunity to create a framework for long-term cooperation rooted in mutual development, technological collaboration, maritime security, and shared economic resilience.
The relationship acquired fresh momentum during Indonesian President Prabowo’s visit to India in January 2025, when the two countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Agreements on health, digital cooperation, maritime security, traditional medicine, and cultural exchanges demonstrated a broadening agenda. Modi’s visit now offers an opportunity to convert these into measurable outcomes.
Historically, India and Indonesia have enjoyed exceptional goodwill. Their cooperation during anti-colonial struggles, participation in the Bandung movement, and support for a multipolar international order created a durable political foundation. Naval cooperation has steadily expanded through coordinated patrols and maritime exercises. Defence ties have deepened, including Indonesian interest in Indian defence equipment such as BrahMos. Cultural cooperation is vibrant, while Indian investment has gradually increased.
Yet the economic relationship remains modest. Bilateral trade of around $30 billion is below potential, and although Indian investment has grown, it remains considerably smaller than that of China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Diplomatic warmth has not yet translated into resilient economic supply chains.
Today’s strategic environment offers conditions that make a stronger partnership both desirable and achievable.
India and Indonesia increasingly see themselves as leading voices of the Global South. Both seek reform of global governance institutions, more equitable development financing, improved climate funding, resilient food systems, and greater access to technology. At a time when geopolitical rivalry is fragmenting supply chains and weakening globalization, the two countries possess sufficient economic weight and diplomatic influence to pursue an inclusive international order.
Unlike many Global South partnerships that remain rhetorical, India and Indonesia have complementary strengths that can produce practical cooperation. Indonesia increasingly looks towards India’s recent development experience, particularly its success in digital governance, public service delivery, and large-scale social programmes.
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure has attracted considerable attention. Indonesia has shown interest by adapting elements of India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce model through the Indonesia Open Network initiative. This digital partnership can extend beyond e-commerce to include digital identity systems, payment platforms, fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and the digitalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises. As many developing countries seek affordable, scalable digital solutions, India and Indonesia could together create a Global South model for technology cooperation.
Governance itself offers another important area of collaboration. Indonesian policymakers have shown interest in understanding how India uses digital tools to improve the delivery of government services. India’s experience in welfare delivery, digital payments, education programmes, public health systems, and initiatives such as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme offers lessons that may be adapted to Indonesian conditions. Expanded training programmes for Indonesian civil servants, public administrators, and technical specialists could become an important pillar of bilateral engagement.
Health cooperation similarly holds enormous promise. As Indonesia expands its healthcare commitments, there is growing scope for Indian hospitals, medical institutions, and training centres to contribute to the development of Indonesia’s health workforce. Capacity building, nursing education, specialised medical training, and healthcare management could emerge as important sectors of cooperation that directly benefit Indonesian society while strengthening India’s development partnership credentials.
Critical minerals represent another strategic opportunity. Indonesia possesses some of the world’s largest reserves of nickel and other minerals essential for electric vehicles, batteries, and advanced manufacturing. Much of its production, however, continues to be exported with relatively limited domestic value addition. Like many resource-rich countries, Indonesia increasingly seeks downstream processing and industrial development.
This creates opportunities for Indian investment. Indian companies could establish processing facilities in Indonesia, helping create local manufacturing capacity while simultaneously strengthening India’s own critical mineral supply chains. This could advance Indonesia’s industrial ambitions while contributing to India’s long-term manufacturing and energy-transition objectives.
Food and energy security offer equally strong foundations for partnership. Both countries face vulnerabilities arising from food inflation, volatile energy prices, and climate change. Investments in food processing, fertilisers, renewable energy, and strategic reserves could create greater resilience for both economies.
The maritime dimension remains perhaps the most strategically significant. Indonesia occupies a pivotal position near the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. India’s Act East Policy naturally converges with Indonesia’s strategic location. Shared concerns regarding maritime domain awareness, piracy, illegal fishing, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief provide a solid basis for deeper naval cooperation beyond the AOIP.
The next phase should move beyond coordinated exercises towards defence-industrial collaboration, maintenance facilities, technology transfer, and joint production. Indonesia’s desire to diversify defence suppliers creates opportunities for Indian defence manufacturing and servicing while contributing to regional stability.
Equally important is the need to strengthen human connections. One of the greatest weaknesses in the relationship remains the surprisingly limited understanding that each country has of the other, akin to the ‘Masala Bumbu’ effect. Indian businesses often know far less about Indonesia than they do about the West or the Gulf, while many Indonesians continue to view India primarily through historical and cultural associations.
Greater exchanges among universities, think tanks, researchers, professionals, students, and start-ups are urgently needed. A larger number of scholarships, academic partnerships, and institutional dialogues would help create constituencies that sustain the relationship beyond government initiatives.
Business facilitation also requires attention. Indian companies continue to report difficulties navigating Indonesia’s regulatory environment. A more effective single-window clearance mechanism, faster administrative processes, and improved investment facilitation would encourage significantly larger Indian investments. As Indian businesses expand overseas, Indonesia should become one of their preferred destinations.
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the emerging partnership is that both countries increasingly seek strategic autonomy amid growing great-power rivalry. Rather than becoming arenas of competition, India and Indonesia have an opportunity to build a relationship based on mutual economic resilience and development cooperation. Helping Indonesia become more ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in technology, healthcare, digital governance, and industrial development also serves India’s broader vision of a more capable Global South.
Modi’s visit, therefore, offers much more than another diplomatic milestone. If both countries focus on implementation rather than declarations, develop flagship projects in digital technology, healthcare, education, and critical minerals, while deepening maritime cooperation and facilitating greater business engagement, India and Indonesia could build one of the Indo-Pacific’s most consequential partnerships.
(Gurjit Singh is the former Ambassador to Indonesia and author of The Durian Flavour. The views expressed are personal)
