INDIA-INDONESIA RELATIONS

India and Indonesia have shared two millennia of close cultural and commercial contacts. During our respective struggles for independence, the national leaderships of India and Indonesia led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Sukarno collaborated closely in supporting the cause of Asian and African independence. Later, after the two countries became independent, Prime Minister Nehru and President Sukarno together laid the foundation of the Afro-Asian and Non-Aligned Movements at the Bandung Conference in 1955. Since the adoption of India's, Look East Policy in 1991, there has been a rapid development of bilateral relations in political, security, defence, commercial and cultural fields. The multi-faceted relationship got an added fillip with the signing of the Joint Declaration on Establishing a Strategic Partnership in 2005 during the State Visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

High-level Exchanges

2. The fact that there have been as many as eight Heads of State/Government visits both ways since 2000 stands ample testimony to the intensification of bilateral ties. From the Indonesian side, President Abdurrahman Wahid (February 2000), President Megawati Soekarnoputri (April 2002), President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (November 2005 and January 2011) visited India. During the State Visit of President Yudhoyono to India in 2005, the two countries signed a Joint Declaration on Establishing a Strategic Partnership. From the Indian side, PM visited Jakarta in 2003 to attend the India-ASEAN Summit in Bali and in April 2005 to attend the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung. The President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil paid a State Visit to Indonesia in November 2008. Prime Minister visited Bali from November 1819, 2011 to attend the India-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit. He met President Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the Summit and discussed issues of mutual interest. There has also been a regular exchange of Ministerial visits and a Joint Commission process cochaired by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries.

State Visit of President Yudhoyono to India in January 2011

3. During President Yudhoyono s 2011 visit, both sides agreed to have summit level meetings on the sidelines of multilateral events. During the visit, as many as 16 intergovernmental agreements were signed in the fields of trade and commerce, oil and gas, fertilizers, SMEs, marine and fisheries, science and technology, climate and earth sciences, education, media and culture. In addition, 18 business contracts, at a total value of USD 15 billion, were concluded between public and private sector companies from both sides. A Joint Statement, aptly named “Vision for the India-Indonesia New Strategic Partnership over the Coming Decade” was issued at the end of the visit. Among the significant decisions taken by the two leaderships for further intensification of bilateral ties were to establish an Eminent Persons Group that would develop a „Vision Statement 2025 for the IndiaIndonesia Strategic Partnership; and the setting up of a Trade and Investment Forum, an Energy Forum and a CEOs Forum. The two sides also agreed to promote regular exchanges of Ministerial visits to boost cooperation in mutually identified areas that held great potential for further enhancement of bilateral relations such as oil and gas, coal, power, renewable energy, trade and industry, health, agriculture, S&T, defence, education, law and security affairs and tourism. India announced the introduction of “Tourist Visa on Arrival” Facilities for Indonesian nationals during the visit.

Recent Ministerial Exchanges

4. In 2011, Ms Mari Pangestu, Trade Minister of Indonesia visited New Delhi on 3 March 2011 to attend the Delhi Dialogue-III. Minister of State for Oil and Natural Gas Shri
R.P.N Singh led an Indian delegation to Indonesia from April 3-6, 2011. Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs (IC) Ajay Maken was in Indonesia from May 2-6, 2011. Minister of State for External Affairs Shri E. Ahamed attended the 16th Ministerial Conference and Commemorative Meeting of the Non Aligned Movement held in Bali from May 25-27, 2011. Smt. D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for HRD visited Bali for the EAS Education Ministers Meeting from July 17-19, 2011. She met her Indonesian counterpart on the occasion. External Affairs Minister Shri S.M Krishna visited Bali to attend the India-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, East Asia Summit Ministerial Consultations and ARF Ministerial meeting from July 21-23, 2011. CIM Shri Anand Sharma visited Manado, Indonesia to attend the EAS Economic Ministers Meeting on August 12-13, 2011. He met his Indonesian counterpart Mari Pangestu on the sidelines. Commerce, Industry & Textiles Minister Anand Sharma again visited Indonesia for the first biennial India-Indonesia Trade Ministers Forum on October 3-4, 2011. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar visited Jakarta on October 7-8, 2011 to attend the India-ASEAN Agriculture Ministers Meeting. Tourism Minister Shri Subodh Kant Sahay visited Indonesia from January 10-13, 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Manado. A MoU on ASEAN-India cooperation in tourism was signed on the occasion. Minister also had an interaction with tour and travel agents and media in Jakarta on 13th January 2012.

Defence and Security Cooperation

1. 5. A mutual realisation of common traditional and non-traditional security challenges has brought India and Indonesia together to closely cooperate in the field of defence and security. Following the signing of a Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2001, both sides continue to have regular exchanges including the exchange of high level visits, ship visits, officers studying in Staff Colleges in either country and joint coordinated patrols in the mouth of the Malacca Straits.
2. 6. Both sides signed an MOU on combating international terrorism in 2004 under which a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism has been set up. The last meeting of the Joint Working Group was held on December 13-14, 2011 in Semarang, Indonesia. Both sides have also signed an Extradition Treaty and a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters.

Economic and Commercial Relations

1. 7. Our bilateral trade increased from US $ 4.38 billion in 2005-06 to US $ 16.16 billion in 2010-11 making Indonesia India s second largest trading partner in the ASEAN. India is the largest buyer of crude palm oil from Indonesia. Main items of India s exports to Indonesia are petroleum products, telecommunication equipments and parts, hydrocarbons and derivatives, oil seed, motor vehicle for goods transportation, animal feed, cotton, flat rolled product, alloy steel while the main items of India s imports from Indonesia are fixed vegetable fats & oils, coal, copper ores, natural rubber, pulp & waste paper, alcohols & phenols, hydrocarbon, machine tools, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, fertilizers, paper and paperboard, carboxylic acids, dyeing/tanning extracts, other chemical products.
2. 8. India has substantial investments in Indonesia in the textiles, steel, automotive, banking and resources sectors. Foreign investment from India in Indonesia dates back to the 1970s. In recent years there has been a new wave of investment focusing on the mining, the automotive and banking sectors. Major Indian companies operating in Indonesia include the Aditya Birla group which has a viscose fibre plant and downstream units, Essar which has a cold-rolled steel mill near Jakarta and Jindal Stainless Steel which has a factory in Surabaya. There are two Indian motor-cycle manufacturers – Bajaj and TVS -in Indonesia. The State Bank of India and the Bank of India has branches in a number of Indonesian cities. Tatas own 30% of the two largest coal mines in Indonesia. More than 40 Indian companies are currently mining or exploring coal blocks in Indonesia. Gujarat State Petroleum and Essar have won an exploration license for gas on-shore in Sumatra. Balmer Lawrie has recently signed a joint venture agreement for manufacturing grease and lubricants in Indonesia. The Spice Group has acquired a cellphone manufacturing company in Indonesia. Godrej has acquired an FMCG manufacturing company in Indonesia. NALCO is currently working on an Aluminium Smelter Project in Indonesia. The Adani Group has signed a Head of Agreement with Bukit Asam, a State coal mining company for constructing and operating a 200-km railway line and a port in South Sumatra. The project is worth US$ 1.6 billion. The Anil Ambani Group has acquired three coal mines and will construct a 233-km railway line and port in the Jambi and South Sumatra Provinces in South Sumatra. The project is estimated at US$ 2 billion.
3. 9. A number of high profile commercial events have been held in Indonesia to give a boost to bilateral Trade and Investment relations between the two countries. CII and the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry are preparing for an „India Show in Jakarta from March 6-8, 2012.

HRD and other assistance

1. 10. Indonesia is a major recipient of ITEC (75 slots) & TCS of Colombo Plan (35 slots) scholarships and over 1300 Indonesian officials have attended training programmes in India under these schemes over the past decade. Further, till date, over 500 trainees from the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works have obtained post-graduate degree in Water
2. Resources & Irrigation Management from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) offers 20 scholarships every year to Indonesian students for pursuing higher studies at under-graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral levels in 181 participating Universities and educational institutions all over India under its General Cultural Scholarship Scheme (GCSS). India has in the past, established a Vocational Training Centre in Jakarta and another Centre has been established in Aceh since August 2010. An IT Lab was set up in Magelang, West Java and handed over to the Indonesian Military Academy in May 2011.


1. 11. India was among the first countries to provide assistance amounting to US$ 1 million in relief supplies to Indonesia following the Tsunami disaster in 2004. India also donated US$ 2 million in relief assistance following the major earthquake in Northern Sumatra on 28 March, 2005. Two Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft airlifted the relief supplies to Medan (North Sumatra) on 21st April 2005. India delivered US$ 2 million worth of relief assistance to Indonesia after the earthquake in Java in May, 2006. A medical team from the Indian Navy also engaged in relief work in the affected area after these disasters. India offered an assistance of $ 100,000 for those affected by Mt. Merapi volcanic eruptions and tsunami in Mentawi islands in October 2010.

Cultural Cooperation

1. 12. There is an active cultural exchange between the two countries. The focal points for this exchange are the two Indian Cultural Centres established in Jakarta and Bali. The Cultural Centres organized a „Festival of India in Indonesia during the period October to December 2009. The Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) for the period 2011-2014 was signed in January 2011 during the visit of the Indonesian President to India. As part of event to commemorate the establishment of six decades of diplomatic relations between India and Indonesia, a collaborative dance drama „Sri Kandi was staged on 17 May 2011 with Javanese dance group of Didik Nini Thowok of Yogyakarta, 3 Kathak dancers and 2 Chhau dancers from India. A joint India-Indonesia Ramayana ballet performance was held at the Prambanan Temple Complex in Yogjakarta on 9 November 2011. A MoU has been signed between ICCR and the University Gadjah Mada in February 2011 to set up a Rotational Chair on Indian studies in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences of the University.
2. 13. There are around 100,000 Indonesians of Indian origin in Indonesia mostly concentrated in Greater Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Bandung. They are mainly engaged in trade dealing in textiles and sports goods. There are around 9,000 Indian nationals living in Indonesia including engineers, consultants, chartered accountants, bankers and other professionals. The Indian community is very well regarded in Indonesia, is generally prosperous and includes individuals holding senior positions in local and multinational companies.

January 2012