Jakarta [Indonesia], July 8 : India and Indonesia held extensive discussions on expanding maritime cooperation, including collaboration on India's Great Nicobar Island project and Indonesia's Sabang Port, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to Indonesia, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
Speaking to the media in a special press briefing after PM Modi's talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, the Secretary (East) in MEA, Rudrendra Tandon, said maritime cooperation figured prominently in discussions between PM Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
"You will recall that when the Prime Minister visited Indonesia in 2018, both countries had unveiled a shared vision on maritime cooperation. So there were discussions on taking that vision forward," he said.
He said the discussions covered expanding mutual maritime domain awareness, maritime connectivity and cooperation between the two countries' Coast Guards.
"In this regard, we are very pleased to know that the decision has been taken for Indonesia to place a liaison officer in the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram in India," Tandon said.
He also highlighted the geographical proximity between the two countries despite the distance between their capitals.
"As the Prime Minister remarked, our capitals may be separated by thousands of kilometres, but we are maritime neighbours. There's a distance of 150 kilometres between two of our islands in Andaman and Nicobar and the closest island in Indonesia," he said.
According to the MEA, both sides also exchanged views on strategic infrastructure projects.
"There was also interest expressed by the Indonesian side in the Great Nicobar Island project that India is doing, and the Prime Minister evinced interest in the development of Sabang Port as well," Tandon said.
He added that both countries agreed to carry forward the work of the Joint Task Force established following the 2018 maritime vision.
"If you recall, in 2018, when the shared vision was brought out, both sides had established a Joint Task Force. Already two meetings have taken place, and we hope that a third meeting will take place shortly this year," Tandon said.
He also noted that an MoU had been signed on the sidelines of the visit to renew cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries.
Furthermore, Tandon said the two leaders held detailed discussions on taking the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership forward across key sectors.
"The focus now was on what the forward-looking agenda will be for our comprehensive partnership across all six main areas that characterise our bilateral relations, starting from security and defence," he said.
Tandon said both sides agreed that defence cooperation should move beyond military exchanges to closer collaboration between defence industries.
"In today's discussions, there was a focus on how we can upgrade that to include collaboration between our defence industries," he said.
"As you know, Indian defence industries have acquired a fair amount of maturity and technological sophistication in certain areas which are of interest to the Indonesian side. So there were discussions on how we could now create the framework within which our defence companies can start collaborating with each other," he added.
Without elaborating on specific commercial arrangements, Tandon said discussions covered shipping, weapons systems and missile-domain cooperation.
On economic ties, Tandon said both countries agreed that bilateral trade, currently around USD 25 billion, did not reflect the size of their economies.
"We have set a goal for ourselves. Currently, bilateral trade is at around USD 25 billion. It doesn't reflect the size of our economies, the size of our markets," he said.
He said discussions focused on expanding cooperation in pharmaceuticals, food processing, digital infrastructure and innovation ecosystems.
Referring to healthcare cooperation, Tandon said, "India is known as the pharmacy of the world. Indonesia has an elaborate public health system that requires high-quality drugs at low prices. This was identified as a potential area of collaboration."
The MEA official also said both sides emphasised strengthening historical and civilisational links through greater engagement between universities and educational institutions.
"There was also discussion on expanding our links between universities," he said, adding that agreements had been reached for leading Indian universities to establish campuses in Indonesia.
Describing the atmosphere during the visit, Tandon said the Prime Minister received an exceptionally warm welcome from the Indonesian leadership.
"The hospitality, the warmth, the friendship were very overwhelming," he said.
He added that President Prabowo's decision to personally receive Prime Minister Modi at the airport and later attend the Indian community reception reflected the close ties between the two countries.
"It was an unusual summit. The Prime Minister was extremely warmly received by the President," Tandon said.