Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indonesian Parliament, outlining a strategic vision to deepen the partnership between India and Indonesia. He highlighted the historical, cultural, and civilizational ties between the two nations, referencing shared heritage from the Ramayana and Mahabharata to monuments like Borobudur and Prambanan, and cultural elements like Wayang, Garuda, and culinary similarities.
The core of the address was the proposal of the 'Ganga-Mahakam Vision,' a five-pillar framework for future cooperation. The first pillar, Civilizational Connect, aims to engage younger generations through a proposed India-Indonesia Civilizational Dialogue to transform shared history into future strength. The second pillar, Shared Development, focuses on mutual reinforcement of Indonesia's 'Indonesia Emas 2045' vision and India's 'Viksit Bharat by 2047' goal, leveraging their status as the world's fastest-growing major economies and most youthful societies.
The third pillar, Security and Strategic Trust, commits to elevating defence and security cooperation to address terrorism, cyber threats, maritime challenges, and emerging risks, building on existing collaboration through a Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism. The fourth pillar, Maritime Prosperity, seeks to transform shared maritime geography into shared prosperity through enhanced connectivity, logistics, blue economy, maritime security, and trade resilience from Sabang to Great Nicobar. The fifth pillar, Voice of the Global South, pledges to jointly advocate for a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable global order and governance.
Modi cited concrete foundations for this enhanced partnership, noting that bilateral trade reached nearly $25 billion last year and that over one hundred Indian companies are currently operating in Indonesia. He identified space technology as a key futuristic sector for collaboration, noting India's readiness to support the development of satellite launch facilities in Indonesia and build on existing cooperation where Indonesian tracking facilities in Biak have supported India's space program and India has launched Indonesian satellites.
On global affairs, both nations are aligned on seeking UN Security Council reforms and were praised for their G20 Presidencies (Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023) in centering developing countries' priorities. The shared commitment to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, with ASEAN centrality, was also emphasized. Furthermore, with Indonesia's new membership in BRICS and India holding its presidency, there is an opportunity to make the platform more practical and responsive to the Global South.
The speech concluded with announcements of immediate steps to intensify people-to-people engagement, including a meeting with the Indian community in Indonesia and a joint visit with President Prabowo to the Prambanan temple to launch a conservation and restoration project for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. An invitation was also extended to all members of the Indonesian Parliament to visit India.