India’s most popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Jakarta on an historic three-day state visit to foster fast-growing strategic ties between Asia’s biggest democracies.

When Modi came to power in 2014, he changed India’s famous “Look East” policy to “Act East” under which India wants greater engagement with Southeast Asian countries in areas like trade, investment, IT, maritime security, defense and counterterrorism.

Modi will also visit Malaysia and Singapore, where he will deliver a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

India and Indonesia are old friends, good maritime neighbors and strategic partners. They are also regional powers in Southeast and South Asia. India and Indonesia have links going back two millennia. Even before their independence, both countries’ leaders were helping each other in their fight against colonialism.

The prime minister’s visit comes at the right time because both countries are keen to develop strategic ties and tap all economic opportunities. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo knows about India’s huge potential and wants to develop economic, security and cultural relations with the second most populous nation on the planet. Jokowi is also looking to other South Asian countries to boost economic cooperation, not only India.

With the rise of China as a global power, the regional geopolitical situation has been changing rapidly in recent years. India wants to engage Indonesia, which has the biggest economy and population in Southeast Asia, fully. India also wants to play a bigger role and have greater engagement with ASEAN countries. The cooperation between India and ASEAN, including Indonesia, will work as a bulwark against an assertive China.

Indonesia, a G20 member like India, has been reaping huge benefits from its strategic partnership with India, which was established in 2005, for several years.

For example, Indonesia’s global exports reached US$168.73 billion while imports reached $156.89 billion last year. Thus, Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of $11.84 billion last year. But out of this huge trade surplus, Indonesia earned $10.03 billion from India alone.

Indonesia exported goods worth $14.09 billion, mostly coal, palm oil, iron ore, rubber and paper, to India and imported just $4.04 billion worth of goods from the South Asian behemoth last year, enjoying a more than $10 billion trade surplus, which was the highest in the world for Indonesia.

In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade has already reached $4.32 billion with Indonesia exports reaching $3.20 billion and imports $1.12 billion. Indonesia again enjoyed a $2.12 billion trade surplus.

“The engagement is very, very deep. We have been strategic partners since 2005 and close maritime neighbors. Our trade has been growing rapidly,” Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat said recently in Jakarta. Rawat rightly said Indonesia was India’s biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia and the South Asian giant was Indonesia’s fifth biggest trading partner globally.

Indian investors have invested around $15 billion in Indonesia over the last 17 years. This was a huge investment given India’s total investment in ASEAN was $40 billion during the same period. Presently, India is the 16th biggest investor in Indonesia.

Both countries have already set a trade target of $50 billion for next year.Presently, around 400 Indian companies, including 50 big ones, have established businesses and factories in Indonesia, which provided jobs to 250,000 Indonesians. Some India-linked companies like PT Indorama Synthetics Tbk, PT Indorama Ventures Indonesia, Godrej (PT Megasari Makmur), PT Istech Resources Asia, PT Infotech Solutions (Narayana Health), PT Lulu Group Retail and state-owned Bank SBI Indonesia are active and have a good reputation in Indonesia.

There is a thriving Indian community — consisting of Indian-Indonesians and expat Indians — in Indonesia. They have been making significant contributions to their host country in many fields.

The number of Indians living in Indonesia may be between 100,000 and 300,000 because the Indonesian government does not collect data based on ethnicity in its census.

Indian expatriates are made up of managers, accountants, software engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, IT experts, bankers, traders, researchers, engineers and analysts.

There are many community associations like the India Club, Gandhi Seva Loka, the Indonesia Tamil Sangam, the Indonesia Telugu Association, and many others. Indians are always welcome in Indonesia because they have three good qualities.

“First, Indians are good neighbors. Second, they are hard working and third, they are also law-abiding citizens,” Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said recently in Singapore during the Pravasi Baharitiya Divas (Overseas India Day) convention. A fast-growing India can offer many opportunities to Indonesia. Since Modi has brought a large number of Indian CEOs with him, this will be a golden opportunity for Indonesian CEOs to learn about India’s potential first-hand.

Modi’s visit will mainly focus on developing cooperation in areas like energy, renewable energy, IT, pharmacy and defense with Indonesia. Jokowi and Modi will also discuss maritime security and terrorism.

Modi always emphasizes that India has a vibrant and youthful society moving towards a knowledge-based economy. Given the opportunities and potential, Indonesia should not miss the bus on this.

“If you want wealth with wellness, work in India. If you want peace with prosperity, live in India. If you want health with a whole life, be in India,” Modi said recently.

Indians are already flocking in their droves to Indonesia. Last year, 500,000 Indians tourists visited Indonesia to see the beauty of the country. Modi’s trip will inject more flesh and blood into the old relationship between the countries.

(The Jakarta Post/ANN)