0 India seeks more people-to-people ties with Indonesia

The long friendship between India and Indonesia was on display on Monday night during the celebration of India’s Republic Day. Saffron, green and white were the colors of the night as the Four Seasons’ ballroom played host to diplomats, politicians and at least two beauty queens. Guests were greeted with a namaste and heard the national anthems of both countries, sung by schoolchildren. Spending his first Republic Day in Indonesia, Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Gurjit Singh spoke of the important relationship between the people of the world’s second and fourth most populous countries. 

“People-to-people relations is what India and Indonesia started with, so we want to get back to that,” Ambassador Singh told The Jakarta Post. “That is what takes the relationship deeper and into diverse fields.” In his speech, the Ambassador spoke of new shared development goals between the two countries. “This development dimension is something we hope to introduce into the India-Indonesia relationship this year.” World Bank Indonesia Director Stefan Koeberle agreed that as new middle income countries, it is important they share their knowledge. 

“India is a vibrant democracy, and so is Indonesia. They both face tremendous development challenges.” January 26 is celebrated as India’s birthday because it was on that day in 1950 that India’s constitution became law and India became a republic. A cake was cut by the Ambassador and other dignitaries at the event. India celebrated its 20 year relationship with ASEAN last month. For the occasion, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took six members of his Cabinet to New Delhi. Bilateral trade between India and Indonesia is expected to reach US$25 billion by 2015.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post
source : the jakarta post