India-Indonesia pledge to deepen maritime cooperation

BY Our Correspondent12 Dec 2016 9:47 PM GMT

Dec 13, 2016: During the three-day visit to India, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo met President of India, Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Modi and Widodo noted that India and Indonesia are friendly maritime neighbours with deep civilisational links between the people of the two countries, including the common heritage of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. They underscored the importance of pluralism, democracy, and rule of law as key values to achieve peaceful co-existence. They welcomed the convergence in the political, economic and strategic interests of the two countries that provides an enduring basis for a long-term strategic partnership.

As strategic partners and maritime neighbours, the two leaders emphasised the importance of further consolidating the security and defence cooperation between the two countries. The Leaders highlighted the importance of the maritime domain to their respective countries, the surrounding regions, and the world. They pledged to deepen their maritime cooperation, and to this end, issued a separate "Statement on Maritime Cooperation,” during the visit. The Statement encompasses a broad range of fields, including maritime security, maritime industry, maritime safety and navigation, and other areas of bilateral cooperation identified by both countries.

The Leaders expressed satisfaction at the growth in trade and investment ties between India and Indonesia and recognised the importance of a predictable, open and transparent economic policy framework to facilitate greater two-way trade and investment and to promote private sector led economic growth.

Noting the importance of connectivity for enhancement of trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts, the Leaders welcomed the establishment of flights by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Mumbai starting this month. They also encouraged direct flights from India to Indonesia by the airlines of India. The two countries encouraged promotion of direct shipping links, private sector investment in port and airport development projects, including through Public-Private Partnerships or other concession schemes.