Emerging India-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

India and Indonesia recently upgraded bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a move that comes on the eve of 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This deeper engagement serves to highlight the importance of the Indo-Pacific for both countries. India and Indonesia have recently witnessed some intensive engagement in the political, strategic, defence, security, and economic spheres. There have been a number of meetings at the ministerial level, especially those concerned with Foreign Affairs, Security, Defence and Trade as well as the visit of the Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces to India. A key event was the January 2018 meeting of Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. This was followed by another meeting in May 2018, during the Indian PM’s five-day, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia, covering Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where he delivered the Keynote Address at the Shangri-La Dialogue.