Keeping the Indo-Pacific Open: How India and Indonesia Are Shaping Asia's Maritime Future

Rather than choosing sides, India and Indonesia are investing in partnerships that expand options. Their approach reflects a broader trend among middle and emerging powers seeking influence without dependence.

The India-Indonesia partnership is one of Asia's oldest civilisational relationships. Long before diplomats drafted policies and foreign ministers exchanged talking points, merchants, monks, languages, and myths travelled between their shores. Today, however, its growing significance stems not from the history it celebrates, but from the strategic future it seeks to shape. That future is unfolding across some of the busiest waters on Earth.

The 8th Joint Commission Meeting between India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono in New Delhi, after a four-year gap, offered a glimpse into a deeper geopolitical reality about how the two large maritime democracies are steadily discovering that their interests converge at a moment when the Indo-Pacific is becoming the world's principal arena of economic and strategic competition.

The headlines spoke of trade, maritime cooperation, technology, healthcare and connectivity. The larger story that emerged was about power, geography and the search for stability in a region where uncertainty has become the defining condition.

The Geography That Keeps Pulling Them Together

Power in Asia is steadily shifting from dominance to partnerships, and India and Indonesia have grasped this reality sooner than most.

Geography has played a decisive role. Indonesia sits astride the maritime crossroads linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Malacca, Sunda and Lombok Straits form a network of vital arteries through which much of global commerce flows. Nearly 40 percent of global trade, represented by around 94,000 vessel transits annually, passes through the Strait of Malacca alone. For India, whose economy relies heavily on seaborne trade and energy imports, these waterways are nothing short of economic lifelines.

Many experts argue that the future of the Indo-Pacific will depend as much on securing vital trade routes as on deploying military power. This recognition is shaping the strategic outlook of both India and Indonesia.

A telling example emerged in 2018 when India and Indonesia agreed to develop connectivity around Sabang Port. Located near the entrance to the Malacca Strait and only a few hundred kilometres from India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sabang gave tangible expression to maritime cooperation. More than a connectivity project, it signalled that both countries were beginning to view the surrounding seas as a shared strategic space. That logic has only deepened with time.

As competition intensifies across the Indo-Pacific, countries are paying greater attention to chokepoints, supply routes and maritime resilience. India and Indonesia are building a partnership rooted in common interests and mutual strategic autonomy.

Trade Is No Longer Just About Trade

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono in New Delhi

The economic story is equally compelling as India-Indonesia bilateral trade crossed USD 29 billion in 2024-25, making Indonesia India's second-largest trading partner within ASEAN. Indonesia remains India's largest supplier of palm oil, accounting for nearly half of India's imports of the commodity. At the same time, India ranks among Indonesia's top ten trading partners globally.

These numbers tell a larger story of deepening economic interdependence. India's manufacturing ambitions and expanding market genuinely complement Indonesia's resource strengths and strategic location. This convergence comes at a time when supply chains are being recast as instruments of national power. The disruptions of recent years have revealed the costs of overdependence on concentrated production networks, pushing countries to seek greater resilience, diversification and strategic autonomy in their economic partnerships.

Against this backdrop, Indonesia's vast natural resource base acquires new significance. The country possesses the world's largest nickel reserves, estimated at more than 20 million tonnes. Nickel has become one of the most sought-after minerals of the twenty-first century because it sits at the heart of electric vehicle batteries and clean energy technologies.

India, meanwhile, seeks to expand its manufacturing capacity, accelerate industrial growth and establish itself as a major technology and production hub. The convergence is obvious because while Indonesia provides critical resources, India offers a large market, manufacturing ambitions and technological capabilities.

The conversations on critical minerals during the Joint Commission Meeting, therefore, reflected a shared recognition that economic security and national security are increasingly intertwined.

ASEAN's Giant Meets Asia's Juggernaut

Much of the discussion surrounding the Joint Commission Meeting focused on the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 2026-2030. The emphasis reflects ASEAN's growing weight in the global economy. With a market of more than 680 million people and a combined economic output exceeding USD 4 trillion, the bloc has become a critical centre of growth and strategic influence. At the heart of ASEAN stands Indonesia, with nearly 40 percent of the bloc's population residing within its borders, giving Jakarta considerable sway over regional decision-making. In many respects, ASEAN's direction and effectiveness are closely tied to Indonesia's leadership and participation.

For India, which has spent the past decade strengthening its Act East Policy, Indonesia functions as both partner and gateway. Stronger ties with Jakarta naturally reinforce India's engagement with Southeast Asia as a whole.

Both countries have also historically valued strategic autonomy. Neither is comfortable being drawn into rigid alliance structures. Both favour a multipolar regional order where countries retain room for independent decision-making, and such shared instinct stands out in a world defined by competing blocs and growing geopolitical polarisation.

Rather than choosing sides, India and Indonesia are investing in partnerships that expand options. Their approach reflects a broader trend among middle and emerging powers seeking influence without dependence.

From Civilisational Memory to Strategic Modernity

The India-Indonesia agenda extends well beyond maritime security and trade. Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, digital connectivity, fintech, infrastructure, tourism, education, culture, space technology and people-to-people exchanges all featured prominently in recent discussions.

Strong partnerships rarely survive on security interests alone; there is a need for strong societal foundations capable of withstanding political changes and shifting international circumstances. India and Indonesia possess an advantage in this regard as their connection predates the modern state system itself.

Elements of Indian culture found their way into the Indonesian archipelago centuries ago. Indonesian traditions, in turn, absorbed and reshaped these influences into something uniquely local. The result was not cultural imitation but cultural dialogue. Today, that historical familiarity creates a reservoir of goodwill that many newer strategic relationships lack.

The challenge for both governments is to translate civilisational comfort into contemporary relevance. Encouragingly, that transition appears to be underway.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto Came to India as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations in 2025

The India-Indonesia relations received significant momentum following the January 2025 state visit of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to India as the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations. The interactions between President Prabowo and Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped elevate bilateral engagement from diplomatic goodwill to strategic purpose.

The latest meeting centred on implementing the commitments made during President Prabowo's landmark visit to India. Sugiono's reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's forthcoming trip to Jakarta indicates that both capitals are already looking beyond declarations towards the next stage of cooperation. What is emerging is a more mature partnership, one defined less by symbolism and more by execution. India and Indonesia are gradually transforming strategic intent into operational collaboration across an expanding range of sectors.

The Weight of 1.7 Billion People

Numbers sometimes reveal what geopolitical theories struggle to capture. Together, India and Indonesia account for roughly 1.7 billion people, representing more than one-fifth of humanity. Their economies are rising, their strategic influence is expanding, and their geography places them at the heart of the Indo-Pacific story. Yet what makes their partnership noteworthy is not a shared quest for dominance, but a shared interest in shaping a stable and multipolar regional order.

The significance of the 8th Joint Commission Meeting lies not in any single agreement signed or announcement made but in the gradual emergence of a partnership that is becoming fairly consequential to the wider Asian balance.

Across the waters stretching from the Andaman Sea to the Java Sea, a quiet geopolitical realignment is underway. It lacks the drama of great-power confrontation and rarely commands banner headlines, yet its implications could prove far more enduring. In a century defined by connectivity, commerce and maritime security, India and Indonesia are discovering that influence need not rest on dominance alone. Sometimes, the most consequential partnerships are forged not to control a region, but to preserve its stability and balance.