- India and Indonesia held the 8th Joint Commission Meeting in New Delhi to strengthen ties
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Sugiono co-chaired the strategic talks
- The meeting covered defence, trade, maritime, health, digital, energy, education, and culture
India and Indonesia on Sunday held wide-ranging talks to strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chairing the 8th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) alongside Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono in New Delhi - a meeting that carried added weight ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit to Jakarta next month.
Government sources have told NDTV that Prime Minister Modi is likely to undertake a three-nation tour in July, covering Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia - a visit that would mark a significant moment in India's engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. The Indonesian Foreign Minister's reference to Modi's forthcoming visit to Jakarta appeared to underline the importance both sides attached to Saturday's high-level parleys.
"Given the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jakarta, I hope this meeting will be a fruitful one, which will deliver a lot of outcomes," Sugiono said in his opening remarks, expressing hope for a constructive outcome from the daylong discussions.
The Joint Commission Meeting - the first such bilateral mechanism convened in four years since the last JCM in 2022 - covered a sweeping agenda that included political ties, defence and security cooperation, maritime affairs, trade and investment, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, digital infrastructure, energy, connectivity, space, education, and people-to-people exchanges.
Opening the meeting, Jaishankar struck a warm tone, noting that the two countries had marked a significant milestone only last year. "We celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of our bilateral ties in 2025. We had the honour to welcome President Prabowo Subianto on a State Visit and as the Chief Guest for India's 76th Republic Day last year," he said.
Jaishankar credited President Prabowo's visit to India in January 2025 with injecting fresh energy into the relationship. "When I had called on His Excellency during that visit, I very much valued the guidance provided by him on further developing our multifaceted bilateral ties. There were very fruitful discussions between Prime Minister Modi and President Prabowo during the visit, and that has certainly imparted fresh momentum to our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," he said.
Outlining India's priorities for the day's talks, Jaishankar said he looked forward to discussions spanning the full breadth of bilateral cooperation - "from political to defence and security, maritime trade and investments, health and pharmaceuticals, food security, as well as tourism, education, and cultural cooperation."
For his part, Sugiono emphasised that Saturday's meeting was intended to produce tangible outcomes, not merely review progress. "This is an important meeting to allow us to review the progress of our cooperation since the last JCM held in 2022, to address outstanding subjects that matter to our common interest, and to follow up on the results of the leaders' meeting during President Prabowo Subianto's visit to India - and to chart the way forward to translate this partnership into more concrete outcomes," he said.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, in a separate statement released in Jakarta, described the JCM as both a forum to strengthen ties in trade, investment, and strategic industries and a preparatory step for Modi's anticipated visit to Indonesia in July 2026.
A Ministry of External Affairs statement issued after the meeting noted that both sides had "exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest" and reaffirmed their commitment to deeper coordination in regional and multilateral forums. The two Ministers also agreed to hold the next Joint Commission Meeting at a mutually convenient date.
The statement reaffirmed Indonesia's centrality to India's foreign policy architecture, noting that "Indonesia is a key pillar of India's Act East Policy," and that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries - rooted in deep civilisational ties - "continues to grow from strength to strength across established and new areas of cooperation."
If Prime Minister Modi's three-nation July tour proceeds as expected, it would represent one of India's most significant outreach efforts in the Indo-Pacific this year, reinforcing New Delhi's deepening strategic engagement with Southeast Asia, as well as its partnerships with Australia and New Zealand.
