The populations of India and Indonesia represent one-fifth of the earth's population. If these two countries can work together, it will certainly have promising prospects.
Actually, the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and India has strategic potential. There are more similarities that connect the two countries than differences that keep them apart.
However, the lack of attention and mutual understanding between the two countries has closed many opportunities. Now, facing geopolitical turbulence, Indonesia and India can take advantage of the situation to explore partnership development by leveraging on a solid foundation.
To encourage the exploration of this potential, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia in collaboration with Gateway House India held a seminar on Navigating India-Indonesia Bilateral in a Changing Global Order at the CSIS Auditorium, Jakarta, Monday (15/9/2025). The seminar was the second part of a series of track 1.5 of Indonesia-India diplomacy that began this year.
In his opening remarks, senior Indian diplomat and distinguished fellow of Gateway House Rajiv Bhatia stated that the historical track record of relations between Indonesia and India is very long since before independence. To be precise, when Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Java and Bali in 1927.
The relationship continued with the cooperation between the two nations at the beginning of Indonesian independence. Namely, starting from the friendship of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indonesia's first Vice President Mohammad Hatta, the delivery of rice aid from Indonesia to India in 1946, to India's participation in preparing the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955.
"Since the beginning of independence, the foundation of relations between Indonesia and India has been very strong, emphasizing equality, mutual respect, and mutual support. Not only limited to memories of the past, but with this we must look to the future of both countries," Bhatia said.
Agreeing with Bhatia, Indian Foreign Minister Pabitra Margherita, who gave a recorded speech, said that with a commitment to maintain the Bandung Spirit of 1955, Indonesia and India can pursue a common future by working together to overcome problems of inequality and gaps in levels of development.
"By carrying out the Bandung Spirit, Indonesia and India prepare themselves to navigate the current crisis situation to realize an inclusive, equal and resilient multipolar world in the future," said Margherita.
Three strategic paths
Indonesian Ambassador to India Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi said there are six potential lines of cooperation to develop productive relations with India. Ina abbreviated it with the 6C formula, which is divided into three sectors: compact and connect, cooperate and collaborate, and coherence and convergence.
Ina explained that in the first sector, the focus of cooperation is on building people-to-people relations through tourism. This includes organizingdirect flight routes between Jakarta and New Delhi, as well as Bali and New Delhi.
"This contact embodies mutual understanding, and the increasing need for direct flights shows that this route has profit potential," explains Ina, who joined online from New Delhi.
The second sector, cooperate and collaborate, can be done by focusing on cooperation in specific areas, namely health and digitalization. Ina took an example, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, India sent oxygen packages only three months after receiving the same aid package from Indonesia. Not only that, Indonesia and India also exchange health workers for practice and study.
Next year, Ina continued, Indonesia and India will both conduct socio-economic surveys for digital mapping and the latest statistical reports on the country's conditions.
"Both are important because quality bilateral relations are characterized by information exchange based on reliable and relevant data accuracy, in addition to mutual understanding," he said.
"A quality bilateral relationship is characterized by the exchange of information based on reliable and relevant data accuracy, in addition to mutual understanding," Ina said.
In the third sector, coherence and convergence, Indonesia and India as maritime and emerging economies are increasingly gaining confidence to chair strategic forums, ranging from ASEAN, G-20, and BRICS. Next year, India has the opportunity to chair the BRICS Summit, and Indonesia is expected to make a more meaningful contribution to it.
According to Ina, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia during the G-20 Summit and President Prabowo Subianto's state visit last January were important signals to emphasize the openness and stability of BRICS members amid uncertainty.
"This must be supported by an evaluation of the cooperation structure we have to make it more effective and sustainable," Ina said.
Explore all opportunities
The strategic value of cooperation with Indonesia was also noted by Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty. He underlined that India is Indonesia's second largest source of tourists, in addition to its fifth largest trading partner. However, due to lack of attention, the potential for wider cooperation is not well realized.
"The trade deficit between Indonesia and India is almost the same value as the trade deficit between Indonesia and the United States. But Indonesia seems to pay more attention to the latter," Chakravorty criticized.
However, he also admitted that India was less responsive in responding to Indonesia's diplomatic gestures. This was marked by the absence of visits by Indian officials to Indonesia, even after the Indonesian head of state and two ministers visited the subcontinent.
Chakravorty noted that in the face of uncertainty, Indonesia and India need to explore trilateral cooperation and defense cooperation as two effective platforms to explore the bilateral potential of Indonesia and India.
He pointed out that the India-Japan-Indonesia trilateral cooperation in public transportation development is very prospective to be followed up. Likewise, cooperation in the maritime sector by creating direct merchant ship routes from Indonesia to India, without having to transit in Singapore or Malacca.
To Indian entrepreneurs who want to invest in Indonesia, Chakravorty continued, he advised not just to pay attention to numbers and volumes, but also to contribute. The TVS motorcycle factory is one such success story.
According to him, they understand that finding a market is not enough. By bringing technology transfer, they developed know-how capacity and created jobs. Now, their products are penetrating the Southeast Asian market brilliantly, as they drive the local economy.
Ambassador Ina agreed with Chakravorty's assessment. In the digital economy sector, Indonesia and India have signed alocal currency transaction agreement in March 2024. With this agreement, one of Indonesia's commercial banks is now operating in India freely.
In the near future, according to Ina, the use of QRIS in India will soon join the framework of this agreement. "The switch technical adjustment process is currently underway. But, the effectiveness of this payment mechanism will only be proven if more Indonesians come to India to study and travel, as well as do business," Ina said.
