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Looking to strengthen the strategic partnership between India and Indonesia for cooperation on economic and other issues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today left for a bilateral visit to Jakarta after attending the ASEAN and East Asia summits here.
Singh, who came to Brunei's capital Bandar Seri Begawan yesterday, held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Japan on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia summits. He will be in Jakarta till October 12.
Besides being a key ASEAN member, Indonesia is an important bilateral partner of India.
Singh will be joined by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
The areas of cooperation between the two countries range encompass economy, culture, energy, security and space.
Ahead of his visit to Brunei and Indonesia, Singh had said in his departure statement that India sees its ties with Indonesia as an essential part of its integration with the broader region.
"I intend to utilise this visit also to re-emphasise our commitment to building a stronger partnership with ASEAN. We will also have the opportunity to exchange views on regional and global issues of common interest," he said.
The visit is expected to further deepen India's strategic partnership with Indonesia and Singh's scheduled meeting with Indonesian leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may be the last one during the latter's tenure as President of the Southeast Asian country.
Presidential elections are expected to be held in Indonesia in April 2014 after Yudhoyono completes his term.
India and Indonesia inked a strategic partnership agreement in 2005, about a year after both Singh and Yudhoyono assumed leadership roles in their countries.
India-Indonesia trade has grown by nearly five times since the partnership was launched to about USD 20 billion, and the two sides intend to raise it to USD 25 billion by 2015.
Earlier in the day, addressing the 11th ASEAN-India Summit here, Singh said India was ready to sign a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN on services and investment to boost bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2015, up from USD 76 billion last year.
