Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto landed in Delhi on January 23 for his first state visit to India. Apart from his engagements with Indian President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and other officials during bilateral engagements, Prabowo was the chief guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26 – a spot reserved for India’s critical global partners. In the past, India has invited prominent foreign leaders as chief guests, including presidents of the United States, France, and Egypt. By inviting Indonesia’s leader, India highlighted some of its key priorities under Modi 3.0, particularly within the framework of New Delhi’s Act East Policy.

India-Indonesia relations have a storied history. In fact, the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, as the chief guest of India’s first Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 1950. The partnership has evolved significantly in the 75 years since, as the two countries have grown in strength, power, and wealth, while carving out their roles at the world level. What marks the present-day partnership is that the two democracies share a vision of a more inclusive and equitable world order.

In the 1950s, Nehru and Sukarno were the leading proponents of the Non-Alignment Movement, which focused on self-determination, the national independence and sovereignty of Asian and African countries, opposition to apartheid, non-adherence to multilateral military pacts, and the independence of non-aligned countries from great power or bloc influences and rivalries – all in the context of Western imperialism. Today, India and Indonesia stand as pillars........

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