Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a five-day visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore from Tuesday to Saturday last week. During his visit to Indonesia, Modi and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo discussed issues of bilateral, regional and global importance.
The two sides signed 15 memorandums of understanding in various fields, including defense, space technology, scientific and technological cooperation, and railways.
In a significant move to enhance the two countries’ bilateral ties, the two leaders announced the establishment of a New Strategic Comprehensive Partnership.
Undoubtedly, one of the essential foundation stones of the strategic partnership between New Delhi and Jakarta is their expanding security and military cooperation.
More importantly, while Indonesia last month agreed to give India economic and military access to the strategic island of Sabang — at the northern tip of Sumatra and close to the Malacca Strait — during Modi’s visit, he and Jokowi recognized the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight on the high seas, unimpeded lawful commerce and resolving maritime disputes by peaceful means.
The shift in Indonesia’s attitude to maritime cooperation with India is seen as very significant considering that for a long time, Jakarta was not supportive of the idea of fostering strategic alignment with New Delhi to antagonize Beijing.
Last month in New Delhi, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said that Indonesia launched its Global Maritime Fulcrum doctrine in 2014 to balance China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Indonesia and India are big enough that “we don’t have to lean toward any superpower, and this makes India a sensible partner for Indonesia,” he said.
For India, Indonesia’s strategic location is vital, as it controls the entry points to the Strait of Malacca, the main sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, linking major Asia economies including India, China and Japan.
Thus cooperation with Indonesia would ensure freedom of navigation and sea communication, and allow it to effectively tackle the issues of piracy and terrorism in the region.
Chinese assertive behavior in the South China Sea and Beijing’s focus on increasing its naval prowess has also become an important reason for New Delhi to foster cooperation with Jakarta in the security area.
The two countries on Jan. 9 held their first security dialogue in New Delhi, which focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation in countering terrorism, terrorist financing, money laundering, arms smuggling, people trafficking and cybercrime.
During Modi’s visit, the two sides reiterated their commitment to their partnership in the Indian Ocean Rim Association to maintain peace and prosperity in the region.
The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to defense cooperation with the signing of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement. The agreement is to further strengthen and renew the existing cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries and the region.
They also urged officials of both sides to expand mutually beneficial collaboration between their defense industries, such as joint production of equipment, technology transfer, technical assistance and capacity building, and sourcing of defense equipment.
This would boost the Modi government’s Make in India, Skill India and other initiatives, benefiting the Indian economy.
Economic and trade ties have significantly increased ever since the two countries signed a free-trade agreement in 2010, with Indonesia becoming India’s largest trading partner in ASEAN at a trade volume of US$18 billion. They have decided to increase the volume of bilateral trade to US$50 billion by 2025.
India believes that closer ties with Indonesia would benefit its stature in ASEAN and also at the East Asia Summit, which is attended by 18 countries, led by ASEAN.
Consequently, apart from economic benefits, cooperation with Indonesia is seen as an effort to counterbalance China’s growing clout in the region. The two sides also reiterated their support for an early implementation of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in Services and Investment.
After a brief stop in Malaysia, Modi traveled to Singapore, where he delivered the keynote address at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue.
In his speech at Asia’s premier security forum, Modi made no secret of India’s playing a leading role in ensuring peace and security in the Indo-Pacific, while reinforcing its deep historical and cultural ties with Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries.
In an oblique reference to China, Modi said that an “Asia of rivalry will hold us all back,” while an “Asia of cooperation will shape this century.”
He said New Delhi’s ambition is to promote a free, open, inclusive Indo-Pacific region, which embraces all in a common pursuit of progress and prosperity.
During the visit, India and Singapore signed 13 agreements business event, at which Modi and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) commended their militaries for holding annual high-level exercises, goodwill visits and professional exchanges.
The two countries are to hold a 25th and enhanced edition of the annual Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise later this year, underscoring their ardent desire to foster deep naval and maritime cooperation in the region.
At a time when India is viewed by Southeast Asian countries as a better place for doing business and US President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to maintain the balance of power against China by using the term Indo-Pacific for the Asia-Pacific region, the meeting between Modi and US Secretary of Defense James Mattis on the sidelines of the Singapore conference assumed an added significance for furthering cooperation among India, the US and other countries in the region.
While Modi’s visit to these countries has given a big boost to India’s Act East Policy, the revealing regional security situation and the shared interests of India and ASEAN countries will continue to drive the two sides to expand and explore the areas of their engagement in the future.
Sumit Kumar is a visiting fellow at National Chengchi University and a research fellow at the Chennai Center for China Studies.
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