From health to maritime security and digital development, India and Indonesia finalise agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation
| 2025-01-26
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet in New Delhi on January 25, 2025.
The Indonesian President has expressed keen interest in India's social security and social development programmes
As Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met for talks in New Delhi on Saturday (January 25, 2025), the two sides finalised a slew of agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors like health, digital development, and maritime security.
Briefing the media, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Minister (MEA) Jaideep Mazumdar said discussions between the two leaders covered cooperation in areas of defence and security, maritime domain, trade and investment, connectivity, digital economy, tourism, health and people-to-people ties.
“The President is particularly interested in the social security and social development programs of India. He has replicated the mid-day meal scheme in Indonesia. He is launching that scheme after having sent two teams to study the scheme in India, and he is firmly of the view that the Indian experience is replicable in Indonesia,” Mazumdar stated.
The following agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed:
1. MoU on health cooperation between India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Indonesia’s Ministry of Health: According to Mazumdar, Indonesia is very keen to not only cooperate at the policy level on health but also attract Indian hospitals to Indonesia. “They would like to have their doctors being trained and exposed to our health system to undergo internships, to send students here, to send practicing doctors here, technicians on equipment, and a whole host of different areas under health was also discussed,” he said during the media briefing.
“The Prime Minister's Janaushadhi Kendras were also discussed, and how this could be something that Indonesia could look at. So, the entire health field is something that has tremendous potential which Indonesia is very keen to replicate from India,” Mazumdar said.
2. MoU on maritime safety and security: Signed between the Indian Coast Guard and BAKAMLA, which is the Indonesian Coast Guard.
3. MoU in the field of traditional medicine quality assurance between the two sides: Indonesia is strong on traditional medicine and therefore both sides feel that there is a lot to be gained from this cooperation, Mazumdar noted.
4. MoU in the field of digital development between the Ministry of Electronics and IT of India, and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs of Indonesia.
5. The two sides also agreed on a cultural exchange program between the Ministry of Culture of India and the Ministry of Culture of Indonesia for the period 2025-2028.
The four-day visit from December 23-26, 2025 was the first visit of President Prabowo to India in his current capacity as President and coincided with the 75th Anniversary of India-Indonesia Diplomatic Relations. The Indonesian President also attended the celebrations of the 76th Republic Day of India as the Chief Guest.
Recalling that Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno, was the Chief Guest at India’s first Republic Day Parade, Mazumdar said two more Indonesian Presidents had attended the event as Chief Guests in the intervening period. “So that will give you an idea of the enduring relationship that we have with this very important country in the Indo-Pacific,” he remarked.
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