“India was among the first to support our independence”: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, on his maiden State Visit to India, underscored the historic ties and strategic partnership between Indonesia and India. Speaking ahead of his participation as the Chief Guest at India’s 76th Republic Day celebrations, he emphasised the longstanding friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

Prabowo noted, “The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia is on land donated by the Indian government before we were recognised by many other countries in the world. We will prioritise this relationship in the interest of long-term strategic partnership which we have agreed upon. We feel very honoured that I will be the Chief Guest tomorrow at the Republic Day parade and because the first Chief Guest in India’s first Republic Day parade was President Sukarno, so this is a great honour for me.”

Continuing, he said, “For the first time, an Indonesian military contingent has taken part in a military parade outside of Indonesia. I would like to extend our congratulations on the celebration of India’s 76th Republic Day. India was one of the first strong supporters of our independence struggle. India sent assistance, financial aid, medical aid in our struggle for independence. Many Indian leaders supported us in our critical times.”

During his visit, President Prabowo held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House. The meeting covered a wide range of topics aimed at strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, security, and emerging technologies.

Prabowo remarked, “We would like to thank India for supporting our prominent membership in BRICS. We are convinced that this cooperation will be beneficial to global stability and regional cooperation. In our discussions in the fields of trade, investment, tourism, health, energy, security, cooperation, digital, AI, IT and energy, we agreed to strengthen this cooperation.”

“I’m also very pleased to have very successful and good discussions with many leaders of the Indian industry. We also thank Prime Minister Modi for his assistance. We study your programs, we send technical teams and now we are implementing many of the programs which for us have been good examples in which we would like to learn from your experience,” he continued.

India and Indonesia, sharing millennia-old cultural and trade ties, have elevated their partnership under India’s “Act East” policy and the Indo-Pacific vision. The visit serves as an opportunity to review bilateral ties and explore further avenues of cooperation.