INDIA’S RELATIONS WITH INDONESIA
Navrekha Sharma and Baladas Ghoshal
Research Asia; 306 pages
MASALA BUMBU
Enhancing the India-Indonesia Partnership
Gurjit Singh (editor); Beritasatu; 299 pages
In January 1950, at our first Republic Day, Indonesia President Sukarno was India’s honored guest. Contrast that with what I witnessed in 2007 in Jakarta at the launch of a Festschrift in honour of a noted intellectual Yusuf Wanandi: in that fine collection of over 80 essays, no Indian figured among the authors. It was a striking demonstration of our lack of intellectual contact. Fortunately, that mutual distancing is now being bridged. These two works enrich our knowledge of Indonesia. In the same genre, two recent works on Myanmar by former Indian ambassadors, Rajiv Bhatia and P M S Malik, also bolster India’s ‘Act East’ policy via intellectual discourse.
Former Ambassador to Indonesia Navrekha Sharma has teamed with Baladas Ghoshal, to produce an authoritative study, taking advantage of the archival documents that New Delhi has begun to release. Mr Navrekha has written the first four chapters; the next three come from Prof Ghoshal, while the final one is a joint product. The former sketches the ancient cultural links, symbols of which have persisted after the arrival of Islam. Chapter 3 details the connections between the leaders in the independence period; Soekarno (named after Karna of Mahabharata), was steeped in domestic tradition, and “resembles Gandhi more than Nehru.” But the affinities of that era did not endure.
Indonesia declared independence in 1946, but the Dutch fought a rearguard action with military intervention, an issue that went to the United Nations (UN); a final settlement, and end of Dutch intervention came only in 1949. In April 1947, India “followed the United Kingdom” and extended de facto recognition, but even an August 1947 secret visit by Mohammad Hatta (in a Dakota aircraft piloted by Biju Patnaik) did not persuade India to extend de jure recognition; Nehru felt it would be “counterproductive for India’s relations with the Netherlands”.
India played a key role in 1945-49: Indonesia had sizable presence at the March 1947 Asian Relations Conference; Indian consulates opened in Batavia and Yogyakarta, sustaining contact with revolutionary leaders and helping in their communication with the outside world; New Delhi hosted two conferences on Indonesia in 1948 and 1949; and Nehru’s intervened continually with the Dutch, the US and the UN. “For four years Nehru rarely spoke on world affairs without drawing in the subject of Indonesia.” Was it refusal to let Soekarno, Hatta and Sutan Syahrir set up a government in exile in India in 1948, or that Indian support was offset with a concern over dialogue links with the West, which soured relations when Indonesia became fully independent? The answer is not clear.
A 15-page account in Chapter 4 on the 1955 Bandung Conference provides fascinating insight. It suggests that India’s action blocking Indonesia’s from creating a permanent Asian organisation in that country also contributed to distancing in our relations. At the first non-aligned conference at Belgrade in September 1961, these differences emerged openly.
In the next three chapters, Prof Ghoshal sketches the subsequent evolution, i.e. slow movement in political ties and fair growth in economic cooperation. In the final chapter the co-authors conclude: “…these relations are civilisational and also deeply fraught, carrying with them a heavy baggage of mistakes, miscalculations and misunderstandings.”
The book Masala Bumbu, ably edited by ambassador Gurjit Singh was published in 2015, coinciding with the “Sahabat India Festival of India in Indonesia” held that year. It uses the device of juxtaposed articles by eminent Indonesian and Indian authors, on themes that cover political, economic, cultural and media ties, as also regional cooperation, sustainable development, youth exchanges, plus even offbeat issues such as consumption patterns and middle classes, and corporate social responsibility for business. One virtue of this device is that it brings into the fold a wide range of contributors, and provides a benchmark of a bilateral relationship. Mr Singh, known for his proactive style, had edited and produced a similar work at an earlier ambassadorship at Ethiopia.
In an essay titled “Democratic DNA”, Pallavi Aiyer notes the familiarity of the noisy Indonesian environment for an Indian, and argues that the real hyphenisation for an Indian in Asia is with this country, and not China. She feels that the central challenge that both face is “ensuring that democracy did not turn into the tyranny of the majority in a pluralistic society”. Farah Quinn writes about the comparable rise of the middle class in both countries and how this can be a connector. Bunker Roy writes about the relevance of the Barefoot College model for SE Asia, and the training provided to illiterate rural women from eight of these countries for solar power projects that has electrified remote villages. It adds up to an unconventional collection of perspectives from real leaders of the two countries on how each country is relevant to the other.
We need more studies of this nature, academic as well as those that shine light on new areas for mutual cooperation. Niggles? One misses a list of suggested readings, and indexes in these books, which add value for researchers and readers alike.
The reviewer is honorary fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi
kishanrana@gmail.com
