Indonesia-India Agree to Strengthen Strategic Partnership, Foreign Minister Sugiono: Must Be More Concrete and Mutual Benefit

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaishankar and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono lead the 8th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting. (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of RI)

JAKARTA - Indonesia and India agreed to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership in the 8th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in New Delhi, Sunday.

The meeting, which is also a preparation for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Indonesia in July, was led by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar together with Foreign Minister Sugiono.

During this meeting, the two foreign ministers discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, covering the fields of defense, security, maritime, trade, health, food security, digital connectivity, science and technology, as well as tourism and culture.

Several priorities that were encouraged in the meeting include negotiations on preferential trade agreements (PTA), connectivity of digital payment systems, cooperation on the downstreaming of strategic industries, the restoration of Indonesian cultural heritage, and the education of health workers.

"The partnership between Indonesia and India must produce more concrete and mutually beneficial cooperation," said Foreign Minister Sugiono, launching the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement, Sunday (7/6).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono in the 8th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting. (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of RI)

As partners in the maritime trade route, Indonesia and India have a common view to strengthen maritime connectivity, including through the possibility of developing the Sabang port.

This effort is hoped to further support the increase in bilateral trade between Indonesia and India, which last year reached 23.16 billion US dollars.

In this JCM, cooperation in strengthening food security and energy security was also discussed. Among them, India's hope to get fertilizer supplies from Indonesia. In addition, the two foreign ministers also exchanged views on the potential for cooperation in health and finance, including through the development of payment cooperation between QRIS and Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

Outside the bilateral agenda, both parties also discussed regional and global developments. Both parties looked at geopolitical conditions that had an impact on the economic resilience of various countries, including Indonesia and India.

As two major democracies in Asia, Indonesia and India have a strategic role in promoting a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region.

It is known that JCM is the first bilateral forum at the level of Foreign Ministers which was held in Yogyakarta in 2003. It is planned that the 9th JCM RI-India will be held in Jakarta.

On the other hand, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been established since 1949, and both are founding members of the Asian-African Conference (1955) and the Non-Aligned Movement (1961).

The closeness of the two countries continues to this day, evidenced by Indonesia's participation in BRICS in 2025.