Another similarity was evident in 1980, at the start of India's involvement with the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), when Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, Indonesia's foreign minister, announced patronisingly that the group was engaging in its first dialogue with a developing country. I don't blame the Indonesians for that was just the kind of smug comment Indians often make in their ignorance. When the seasoned Australian journalist, Hamish McDonald, mentioned South Korea to an Indian co-passenger on a flight, the latter asked him not to compare India with "those undeveloped countries."
Returning to Mochtar, only China's rise and the realisation that the Americans wouldn't always be around reconciled Indonesia to India's South-east Asian role. Until then, Jakarta had seen itself as the region's most important capital. The need to counter China and support Asean countries that feel threatened was the only foreign policy issue Jokowi and Prabowo mentioned.
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Otherwise, they boasted of the thousands of kilometres of roads and railways each would lay and the airports and seaports they would construct, with nary a mention of the cost. Neither candidate seems to have the least notion of how to reduce fuel subsidies that gobble up more than one-fifth of Indonesia's budget and threaten to enlarge the fiscal deficit beyond the permissible three per cent.
If they sound delightfully casual, it must be remembered that Indonesia's president for the last decade, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, withdrew 100 trillion rupiah from the central government in April to offset the surging cost of fuel subsidies.
Having said all that, I must confess to a sneaking sympathy for the nationalistic bravado - call it populism if you will - underlying the two manifestoes. Continuing the ban on exporting mineral ore would make immediate political and long-term economic sense if Indonesia develops its own manufacturing base. Dispensing with foreign capital would also be commendable if Indonesians can mobilise their own capital. Demanding reciprocity from the home countries of overseas banks seeking stakes in Indonesia so that Indonesians enjoy equal access to their markets must warm the cockles of all Asian hearts.
These worthy objectives call for planning, belt-tightening and discipline. With the World Bank projecting 5.3 per cent GDP growth this year, compared with the last decade's 5.7 per cent average, Indonesia can't take risks. It needs technological expertise in mining and manufacturing, infrastructure and services. But neither can it put up with bullying by big mining conglomerates.
The need for a balance between self-sufficiency and reliance on the West might be achieved more easily if corruption were not so rampant. In fact, it's almost comforting after the spate of scams that brought down the United Progressive Alliance government to recall the Indonesian saying "Semunya bias diatur... Everything can be arranged." Transparency International's corruption survey of 107 countries last year recorded that three-quarters of Indonesian respondents who had contact with the police had paid a bribe.
But things might be looking up. While my own profession is by no means exempt, well-known Indonesian journalists are trying to eradicate the pernicious practice of wartawan amplop (envelope journalism), which is the euphemism for cash or gifts doled out to the media. The life imprisonment sentence meted out to the former constitutional court chief justice, Akil Mochtar, who was convicted of multiple charges of accepting bribes and money laundering, is another encouraging sign.
Few grey clouds are without some semblance of a silver lining. Analysts claim that far from putting people off democracy, frustration over corruption and maladministration drove many of Indonesia's 185 million eligible voters to Wednesday's polls. They too want reliable services, a sound infrastructure and clean governance. There's not too much difference between Indians and the people of what was called Greater India, until the scholarly Sardar K M Panikkar coined the term South-east Asia. Sukarno reinforced the link, claiming the Hindu Sri Vijaya empire as the first Negara Indonesia, state of Indonesia. Narendra Modi should love that. Despite past dissonance, India and Indonesia seem made for each other.