Closer India-Indonesia ties make sense

The two large democracies in the Indo-Pacific are growing closer as authoritarian China grows more menacing and America's future posture towards Asia remains uncertain

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia, Jakarta is indicating that it is starting to take India’s growing profile in the wider Indo-Pacific seriously. In a recent speech in New Delhi, Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for maritime affairs, has indicated that Indonesia will be providing India access to the strategic island of Sabang at the northern tip of Sumatra and close to the Malacca Strait where India is likely to invest in the port and the economic zone. Rapidly evolving regional strategic realties are now forcing India and Indonesia to coordinate their policies ever more closely and