Indian envoy hails 'excellent' relations with Indonesia on completion of 70 years of bilateral ties

Yogyakarta [Indonesia], Jun 23 (ANI): With this year marking the completion of 70 years of bilateral relations between India and Indonesia, Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat says "excellent" is the word best suitable to describe ties between the two nations.

Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Rawat said tourism has seen a major hike over the past years, owing to the multitude of measures taken by both governments.

"If I can use one word to describe bilateral relations, it is excellent. The foundation is based on goodwill. We have built on that to develop a gamut of other areas of cooperation. Last year, we commenced an inter-faith dialogue, as India and Indonesia share philosophical similarities," he noted.

Rawat confirmed that a number of bilateral visits are in the pipeline in order to strengthen ties.

"We have not only people to people relationships but also at the top leadership level. As close maritime neighbours, we hope there will be more bilateral visits at various levels, including at the top leadership level."

To commemorate the completion of 70 years of relations, a photo exhibition was inaugurated at the Prambanan temple complex in the city, depicting the journey of India and Indonesia over the last 70 years.

As part of celebrations, Yoga Day will be observed on Sunday and is expected to see the participation of around 1,000 Yog enthusiasts.

Talking about the development of Yoga over the years and its tourism potential, Rawat proposed for India to begin institutionalised training courses with degrees in order to create educational tourism opportunities and provide an overall boost to tourism. "We can link more scientific principles to Yoga and its benefits for physical and mental health," he added.

"Yoga belongs to the world but has a home - India. Yoga connects India to the world and the world to India. Yoga is one of the most important activities offered by the hospitality industry," said Rawat.

India and Indonesia have shared two millennia of close cultural and commercial contacts. The shared culture, colonial history and post-independence goals of political sovereignty, economic self-sufficiency and independent foreign policy have a unifying effect on the India-Indonesia relations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Not only this, former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Indonesian President Sukarno laid the foundation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung in 1955, cementing the close historical ties shared by the nations.