During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jakarta, India and Indonesia have cemented their defence relationship with the former signing two agreements showing intent in principle to buy 300 km range surface to surface and air launched BrahMos supersonic missile and 100 km plus range Astra beyond visual range air to air missile from India.
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India and Indonesia have also decided to jointly develop the Sabang-Aceh port, which sits on the mouth of crucial Malacca Straits and is mere 160 kilometers from India’s Great Nicobar Project, which includes a transshipment hub at Campbell Bay. With more than 23 million barrels of oil passing through and an estimated USD 3-7 trillion worth of trade transiting through this narrow channel, Sabang Port will make the choke point more secure from any non-state or state players in the region.
While the government is tight-lipped about the defence deals, Indonesia had initial plans to buy one battery of BrahMos along with 12 missiles at the cost of USD 100 million but today an agreement was signed for two batteries of missiles costing a total of USD 200 million. Indonesia has also decided to purchase Astra missile, which has already been integrated into Indian Su-30 MKI fighters. While the quantity of Astra missiles is still to be worked out, the air-to air weapon will be integrated into Indonesia’s SU-30 Mark 1 and 2 fighter fleet. It is understood that cost negotiations as well as contract details will soon be worked out by the Defence Ministry.
Since 2014, the Narendra Modi government has been focused on deepening ties with Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world. Given that Jakarta does not want to get caught in US-China rivalry in the South China sea, it has reciprocated ties with India as Washington now wants to deal with Beijing on one to one basis. Indonesia is critical in South East Asia with all the choke points or ingress routes to South China Sea—Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, Ombi-Wetar—within its territory. While a coast guard agreement has been signed by the two countries, India and Indonesia will join hands in near future to contribute to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
