President Prabowo Subianto (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, Jan 25, 2025. - Reuters
JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has expressed his gratitude to the Indian government for supporting Indonesia's bid for permanent membership of the BRICS economic bloc.
Prabowo said the bloc, which consists of emerging market economies, "will be beneficial for global stability and regional cooperation".
"We also thank India for supporting our permanent membership of BRICS," President Prabowo said during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
"We believe this cooperation will be beneficial for global stability and regional collaboration," he added.
BRICS, which was founded as an alternative to the G7, is an acronym derived from the names of its early member countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Currently, the grouping comprises 10 countries, including Indonesia.
Despite expressing earlier reluctance to join the economic bloc, Indonesia has become the first Southeast Asian country to become a permanent member, surpassing Malaysia and Thailand, which have shown similar interests.
Indonesia’s rapid accession to BRICS membership is a major departure in Prabowo’s foreign policy direction from his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. In 2023, Jokowi attended the bloc’s meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, only to announce later that BRICS membership was not a priority for Indonesia.
During Saturday’s meeting, Indonesia and India signed a wide range of agreements covering the cultural, health, maritime, security and digital sectors.
Prabowo and Modi witnessed the signing ceremony ahead of India's Republic Day celebrations on Sunday.
President Prabowo said his government will accelerate its economic partnership with India and prioritize cooperation over the long term. "We discussed many key sectors of common interest in which we would like to accelerate the level of cooperation," Prabowo said.
Speaking before Prabowo's remarks, Prime Minister Modi said the two countries would work together in defense manufacturing and improving supply chains.
"We also decided to cooperate on issues such as maritime security, cybersecurity, counter terrorism and deradicalization," Modi said.
Nikkei reported that the two countries might finalize a US$450 million deal to supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, developed by India and Russia, to the Indonesian Military (TNI), but there was no announcement after the talks.
BrahMos, with a range of 290 kilometers, is equipped with stealth technology and an advanced guidance system, and can be launched from air, land, sea or underwater platforms.
New Delhi and Jakarta have been negotiating the BrahMos deal for several years, and if concluded, Indonesia would become only the second country to procure the missiles.
In 2022, India signed a $375 million deal to supply BrahMos missiles to the Philippines, which received its first batch in April last year.
According to Prabowo, the results of the bilateral meeting were "intensive and open." He thanked the Indian government for the warm welcome extended to him and his delegation.
"Our discussions with Prime Minister Modi and his government were very intensive and open," he said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
