PM Modi arrives in Jakarta to further strengthen India's Act East Policy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to Indonesia will focus on defence cooperation, critical minerals, maritime security, digital payments and healthcare collaboration

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday landed in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. India and Indonesia are looking to deepen cooperation in critical minerals, defence and maritime security, including finalising New Delhi’s sale of BrahMos missiles to the Southeast Asian nation. The two sides are also expected to expand cooperation in the health sector, including the supply of medicines to Indonesia’s rural health clinics.

 

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, accompanied by four ministers, received Modi at the airport for his first bilateral visit to the country since India and Indonesia elevated ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2018.

 

 

“I am touched by President Prabowo Subianto’s gesture of welcoming me at the airport,” Modi said in a social media post. “In 2018, we elevated our relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which has benefitted our people,” he added. 

 

Ahead of his departure from Delhi, Modi said his visits to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand would further strengthen India’s Act East Policy, MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security Across the Regions) Vision as well as “our outlook towards a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

 

As maritime neighbours, India and Indonesia adopted the ‘Shared Vision of India-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific’ in 2018. Indonesia will station a liaison officer at the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), which will provide a further boost to bilateral maritime domain awareness, sources said. The IFC-IOR, established by the central government in 2018, is a maritime security and information-sharing hub hosted by the Indian Navy in Gurugram, Haryana.

 

India will also earmark training slots for Indonesian cadets and officers at the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College. 

 

Sources said Indonesia is a dominant player in the global critical minerals sector, accounting for about 21 per cent of the world’s nickel reserves and ranking among the leading producers of copper, bauxite and tin. New Delhi expects Modi’s visit to strengthen cooperation in this area.

 

The two sides are also working to link India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Indonesia’s QRIS digital payment system, said sources. The integration is expected to make travel, tourism, trade and business transactions between the two countries simpler and faster, they added.

 

India is also exploring government-to-government supplies of affordable, high-quality pharmaceutical products through the Jan Aushadhi scheme to support Indonesia’s Red and White Village Cooperatives programme. The initiative aims to create 80,000 self-sufficient rural economic hubs, establish village health clinics and ensure supply of affordable medicines.

 

Over the years, India has supported Indonesia’s food security efforts, including by supplying 100 tonnes of high-quality DWR-162 wheat seeds.

 

Indonesia has emerged as India’s second-largest trading partner in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, with bilateral trade reaching $24.78 billion in 2025-26, although the balance remains heavily in Indonesia’s favour.