R-Day Guest Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to Discuss Bilateral Ties with Modi

�New Delhi:�Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this Saturday in New Delhi, during which the “entire gamut of bilateral cooperation, including political, defence and security cooperation, trade and investment, healthcare, digital technologies, energy, culture, connectivity, tourism and people-to-people relations will be reviewed” by the two leaders. This will be Mr Subianto’s first visit to India as head of state. It is learnt “several MoUs and announcements are likely to be concluded during the visit” and the third bilateral CEO Forum will be held as well on the sidelines.

On Sunday, President Prabowo will attend the 76th Republic Day parade as chief guest. A 352-member marching and band contingent from Indonesia will be participating in the parade and this will be the first time that an Indonesian marching and band contingent will participate in a national day parade abroad. President Prabowo will be the fourth Indonesian President to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations. It may be recalled that the first President of Indonesia Mr Sukarno, was the chief guest at India’s first Republic Day in 1950.

It may also be recalled that Mr Modi paid an official visit to Indonesia in 2018. During that visit, bilateral ties had been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the “Shared Vision of India-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” was also adopted. Mr Modi met President Subianto on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November last year, in what was the first meeting between the two leaders.

It may be recalled that minister of state for external affairs Pabitra Margherita had represented India at the inauguration ceremony of the new Indonesian President in Jakarta in October last year. Mr Subianto had succeeded Joko Widodo as President of the large Southeast Asian archipelago nation. Indonesia is one of the most prominent and influential members of Asean is also the largest Muslim-majority country in the world and thus occupies an important position in the Islamic world. The country is also an important member of the Global South, is a democracy and has a pluralist society like India, with whom ties have been strong going back decades since the 1950s.

Mr Modi had visited Indonesia in September 2023 for the Asean-India Summit and the East Asia Summit, just days before India had hosted the G-20 summit. Indonesia had also hosted the G-20 summit in 2022.