The alliance between two maritime neighbors, India and Indonesia, is profoundly entrenched in bilateral and multilateral collaboration, emphasizing Jakarta's crucial role in the Indo-Pacific panorama and New Delhi's Act East Policy, which is an update of the "Look East Policy."
The Act East Policy, unveiled in November 2014, is India's diplomatic endeavor to strengthen economic, geopolitical, and cultural ties with the large Asia-Pacific region at various levels.
India and Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest country, expressed satisfaction with the widening breadth of defence cooperation during the 7th India-Indonesia Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting in New Delhi on Friday (May 3).
The JDCC meeting was co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Air Marshal Donny Ermawan Taufanto.
During the meeting, the co-chairs reviewed the progress achieved on different bilateral defence cooperation measures that had been discussed in Working Groups on Defence Cooperation and Defence Industries Cooperation.
The JDCC meeting also identified ways to strengthen current collaborations, particularly in the areas of defense industry connections, maritime security, and multilateral cooperation.
According to an article released by the East-West Center, India sees Indonesia as a vital partner who can contribute significantly to its Act East Policy.
These two countries are near geographical neighbors who share a maritime boundary and a mutual stake in each other's success, prosperity, stability, and territorial integrity, and they face similar challenges as pluralistic democracies, developing societies, as per the article.
India and Indonesia began collaborating on defense and security issues shortly after their respective independence.
Initially, the defence collaboration was substantial, with some Indonesian Air Force personnel receiving training in India.
India and Indonesia have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and share a vision for the Indo-Pacific.
According to the Consulate General of India in Indonesia, New Delhi and Jakarta work closely together on defence and security issues. (Vietnamtimes)
