Future cooperation on the Indo-Pacific, trade issues, the situation in Myanmar and the recent controversy over China’s map are likely to be on the agenda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on Wednesday for a two-day visit, during September 6-7, to Jakarta to attend the annual ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The visit is seen as a diplomatic gesture to Indonesia, as PM Modi was originally reluctant to travel just before the G-20 Summit and the arrival of U.S. President Joseph Biden to Delhi, whom he is scheduled to meet on Friday, as well as other G-20 leaders and special invitees. However, after India conveyed its concerns, Indonesian officials rescheduled both summits to be convened back-to-back on Thursday morning, with only a short break in between.
“The Indonesian side was kind enough so as to advance both summits to earlier in the day on September 7 so that PM Modi could return to India on the same day,” said MEA Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar, who thanked Indonesia during a briefing on the Prime Minister’s visit. He added that Mr. Modi was not scheduled to hold any bilateral meeting during his visit to Jakarta due to shortage of time.
