VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

India and Indonesia’s ties have been tremendous in the past one year.  The ties were marked by the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to India in January 2018 to attend the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of India-ASEAN Summit and to be an honorable guest at last year’s Republic Day of India. The visit was then followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia in May 2018. The Indian ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat told about Indonesian-Indian diplomatic relations at an event celebrating India’s 70^th Republic Day on Friday (25/1) in Jakarta. Pradeep Kumar Rawat told India and Indonesia’s longstanding strong diplomatic relationship, and how it can be improved. In his speech he mentioned the two countries strengthening maritime relationship as the first commercial vessel from Aceh, Indonesia landed in Andaman India early January this year aiming to build modern connectivity and leverage the maritime proximity.

“India and Indonesia are two maritime neighbours. The Island of Andaman and Nicobar in India is only 90 nautical miles away from Aceh. Over the centuries the seas connecting India and Indonesia have been pathways on which commerce and culture has travelled. Our two leaders are determined to reinvigorate that historical legacy. To build modern connectivity and leverage the maritime proximity to ensure peace, prosperity and security of our shared maritime space,” Pradeep said.

In his speech, Pradeep Kumar Rawat also discussed the growing tourists and the increasing bilateral trade of the two countries. In tourism, the number of Indian tourists visiting Indonesia has reached half a million while Indonesian tourists visiting India has increased 20 percents. In trade, the countries’ trade balance has reached almost 20 billion US Dollars. Of the number, Indonesia is in the positive balance with a trade surplus of 12 billion US Dollars. (VOI/LISA/AHM)