India, Indonesia pledge deepened collaboration

India and Indonesia have agreed to deepen defence co-operation, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi announced on 27 July.

Following talks between Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting counterpart Prabowo Subianto, the MoD said the two countries had identified potential opportunities for joint projects in defence production and technologies.

“Potential areas of co-operation in the field of defence industries and defence technology were identified,” said the MoD. “Both ministers committed to further strengthen bilateral co-operation in these areas and to take them to the next level of deliverables.”

The MoD did not elaborate. However, Indian news media, citing unidentified sources, reported that the two ministers also discussed the possible export of India’s BrahMos medium-range cruise missiles to Indonesia. In recent years the Southeast Asian country has often been cited as a potential customer of the missile system.