India and Indonesia to increase bilateral trade, mutual investments and cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism
The Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari meeting the Vice President of Indonesia, Mr. Jusuf Kalla, in Jakarta, Indonesia on November 02, 2015.
The Vice President of India said that India and Indonesia shared several global and regional issues including climate change, maritime security and freedom of seas.
The Vice President thanked the Indonesian government for their support in organizing ‘Sahabat India – The Festival of India in Indonesia’ earlier this year. He said that Indonesia being the largest member of ASEAN, India wants its support to engage with ASEAN member States as part of India’s Act East policy.
Answering a question from the media about collaboration between India and Indonesia in the field of non-conventional energy, the Vice President said that the two countries were keen to expand cooperation in the energy sector, including non-conventional energy sector and further details would be discussed during the Indonesian Energy minister’s forthcoming visit to India.
Replying to another question, the Vice President said that on the matter of extradition, the concerned agencies of the two countries were working together and that there was full cooperation from the Indonesian side.
Earlier India and Indonesia signed a Memorandums of Understanding on New and Renewable Energy sector and Cultural Exchange in the presence of two Vice Presidents.
Following is the text of Vice President’s statement:
“I would like to thank H.E. Mr. Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of Indonesia, for this invitation to visit your beautiful country. My visit underlines the importance that India attaches to expanding and deepening its relations with Indonesia, which is a strategic partner. This meeting has afforded us an opportunity to reinvigorate our dialogue at a crucial juncture as both India and Indonesia are embarking upon a phase of rapid economic progress.
We have had an excellent exchange of views covering all aspects of our bilateral relations and discussion on global affairs of mutual interest. We have much in common- sharing cultural values, but also developmental objectives give our large youthful populations and their growing aspirations. We also share similar governance challenges and can benefit from sharing our experiences with each other.
We have discussed ways to diversify and increase our bilateral trade as well to encourage investments in each other’s country through our private sectors. For this we will be working to provide a robust and contemporary legal framework.
We have also discussed possibilities of expanding our cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism through intensification of our existing mechanisms.
We share similar positions on several global and regional issues including climate change and maritime security and freedom of seas in the South China Seas. India and Indonesia today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in New and Renewable Energy Sector. This cooperation is important as both India and Indonesia have committed themselves to reduce carbon emissions by 35% and 29% respectively by 2030.
We celebrate our shared cultural links and today we signed a MoU for Cooperation in Cultural field. We also thank the Government of Indonesia for supporting us in organizing ‘Sahabat India – The Festival of India in Indonesia’ earlier this year.
Indonesia is the largest ASEAN member and India looks forward to its continued support as we move to increase our engagement with ASEAN member States as part of our Act East policy. We congratulate the Government of Indonesia for successfully organizing 60th Asian African Conference Commemoration in April 2015 and for assuming chairmanship of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) last week.
We remain confident that under the leadership of President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Indonesia will continue to make all-round progress and our bilateral relationship will be strengthened.
Thank You.”
