New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to Indonesia and Singapore from May 29 to June 2 on official visit at the invitation of Indonesia President Joko Widodo.
The two leaders are expected to discuss defence and security issues. Economy would also be a vital part of India and Indonesia engagement.
Prime Minister Modi and President Jokowi are also expected to discuss maritime issues.
India and Indonesia are close maritime neighbour and the maritime dimension of engagement is important because a large amount of trade passes through the maritime route.
India and Indonesia have been strategic partners since 2005.
Indonesia is India’s largest trading partner in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The people to people engagement is another strong pillar in the bilateral relationship between both the countries.
India and Indonesia also want to improve tourism to generate maximum amount of employment. Last year, Indian tourists to Indonesia grew by 30 percent, which is around 450,000 Indian visitors. Indonesian Tourism Ministry has set a target to increase Indian tourists to Indonesia by 40 percent this year to reach 700,000.
India is still far behind in attracting Indonesian tourists to India. In terms of numbers it’s possibly 1:8. India only gets around 50,000 Indonesian tourists from Indonesia. There is a lot of work to be done to market India to Indonesia and to attract more Indonesian tourists to India, and certain steps have been taken in that direction.
India and Indonesia have similarities in values in terms of democracy, openness, transparency and towards rules based system.
Both the countries also face major and common challenge that is terrorism. (ANI)