External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and foreign minister of Indonesia Retno Marsudi concluded the 7th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting on Friday with a focus on bilateral cooperation in several key areas including defence and security, trade and connectivity.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Jaishankar took to Twitter to post: "Just concluded a productive 7th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting with FM Retno Marsudi. Reviewed entire gamut of our ties in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with focus on political, defense & security, economic and trade, S&T and space, connectivity and p2p ties."
Minister Marsudi, had on Thursday attended the foreign ministerial meeting of India and ASEAN member states. She highlighted that strategic trust is one of the key aspects of building bridges in the Indo-Pacific region and making the region peaceful and stable.
While addressing the gathering at the Delhi Dialogue XII here yesterday, the Minister praised the theme of the dialogue 'Building bridges in the Indo Pacific' and said, "We need to build bridges in all regions including in the Indo-Pacific. Building bridges means narrowing gaps, overcoming differences, connecting countries and improving relations."
"However, we won't be able to build bridges if there is no trust among each other. We will not be able to build bridges if the trust deficit persists. Therefore one thing we need before we build bridges is to nurture strategic trust to manage the strategic competition," she said.
During her speech, the Minister gave an analogy of COVID vaccines in a positive tenor and said that, unlike the COVID vaccine, there is no shortage of strategic trust but there is some hesitancy in taking this "strategic trust vaccine".
Furthermore, speaking on the maritime cooperation between India and ASEAN, the Indonesian foreign minister said the cooperation should be the future that unites India and ASEAN and not the one which divides. political, defense & security, economic and trade, S&T and space, connectivity and p2p ties."
The 6th India-Indonesia JCM was co-chaired by Jaishankar and Marsudi on December 13, 2019 in New Delhi. During that meeting, both sides reiterated their commitment to strengthen ties in the areas of defence, security, connectivity, trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges.
The two sides had emphasised the need to hold regular meetings on existing bilateral institutional mechanisms, including in areas of trade, energy, defence, security and counter-terrorism. Noting that India and Indonesia are close maritime neighbours, both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress made in strengthening Andaman Nicobar-Aceh connectivity.
As key partners in the Indo-Pacific, both sides called for greater synergy in the region, guided by the Shared Vision on Maritime Cooperation.
India attaches high priority to its bilateral relationship with Indonesia, with which we share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In 2019, India and Indonesia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi also delivered the keynote address at the Delhi Dialogue XI on December 13, 2019 and on June 16, 2022 in New Delhi.
( With inputs from ANI )
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