India’s Modi to meet Indonesia’s Prabowo for talks on defence, food security

JAKARTA: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, as the leaders of two of the world’s most populous countries seek to finalise deals ranging from defence to food security.

Modi on his first trip to Indonesia since 2023 will visit the capital Jakarta and Yogyakarta on Tuesday and Wednesday, before heading to Australia and New Zealand.

Modi will discuss with Prabowo memorandums of understanding on health, space, pharmaceuticals and food security, Sandeep Chakravorty, India’s ambassador to Indonesia, told reporters last week.

“Some are in process, some will be finalised in time, some may get delayed but there will still be outcomes related to the visit,” he said.

Prabowo met Modi in New Delhi last year, where they signed a wide range of agreements.

Modi said on Monday that while in Yogyakarta he would visit Prambanan, Indonesia’s largest Hindu temple complex and a Unesco World Heritage site. The ambassador said both leaders would announce the start of restoration work there.

The two countries hope to conclude certain agreements on BrahMos, an India-Russia joint venture missile manufacturer, Chakravorty said. Defence talks would also cover maritime awareness and piracy, he added.

In ​2023, BrahMos said it was ​in advanced discussions with Indonesia on a deal worth between US$200 million and US$350 million for its missile systems. It has already signed deals with neighbours Vietnam and the Philippines.

India is a major buyer of palm oil and coal from Indonesia, a global commodities powerhouse, which in May announced plans to bring exports of its strategic commodities under central government control to boost state earnings.

Chakravorty said India did not have big concerns about the export centralisation move, adding: “We understand the reasons and we believe that we are part of the solution.”

Rajiv Bhatia, a distinguished fellow at think-tank Gateway House and India’s former deputy chief of mission to Indonesia, said in an opinion piece on Monday that the two countries had good relations and could become more aligned on the international stage.

“The two leaders are expected to achieve a closer, more aligned worldview, especially in the aftermath of the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf and amid the emerging entente cordiale between the U.S. and China,” he wrote in the Jakarta Post.