"I Follow Your Career": Indonesian President Praises PM Modi

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto drew laughter after joking that he had been "copying" the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's programmes, which have delivered results in India.

Speaking at a banquet lunch hosted in honour of PM Modi during his state visit to Jakarta, Subianto praised India's development and said Indonesia was learning from its experience.

"I follow your career and copy many of the programmes," Subianto said, drawing laughter from dignitaries attending the event.

India and Indonesia shared many similarities, including large populations, agriculture-based economies, and frequent natural disasters, he said.

#WATCH | A light-hearted moment with a deeper message. ????????????????????

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto drew smiles as he said during the banquet lunch “I copy your career and many of your progress…”

“I'm happy there is no copyright in following this progress”, he said amidst the… pic.twitter.com/EVPSlt2Pib

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"I don't mind admitting because if it succeeds for hundreds of millions of people with the same background as Indonesia, we are making a mistake to say that we have the problems of a big population. We're agricultural in our backgrounds and face many natural disasters, and yet, India has achieved (success in) many programs," he said.

Subianto added that several Indian government programmes delivered impressive results and became an example for Indonesia.

"So, I openly admit that I follow your career and copy a lot of the program. Hence, it's proving to be successful for us. Thank you very much. I'm really happy there is no copyright to all your programmes," he said, prompting another round of laughter.

The Indonesian President also said a team from his country recently spent two to three weeks in India studying successful development projects.

He highlighted India's work in converting dry, barren land into fertile farmland using permaculture techniques and said Indonesia was keen to learn from those efforts.

"Many Indian groups have achieved in making arid land arable again with what is called permaculture. So we are studying this crossing, and we have a lot to learn, and we're not afraid of learning," Subrianto said.

PM Modi is on a three-day visit to Jakarta at the invitation of the Indonesian President. This is the Indian PM's fourth visit to Indonesia and his first bilateral since India and Indonesia upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2018.

During the visit, PM Modi and Subianto held talks to review the progress made over the past few years. They will also discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in defence, trade, investment, maritime security and technology.