THE visit of President of Indonesia, Mr. Prabowo Subianto, to Pakistan will surely help take the bilateral relations to new heights given wide-ranging understanding reached between the leadership of the two countries to promote ties in diverse fields and moves initiated on the occasion to achieve this cherished objective.
During a meeting between the visiting dignitary and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the two sides decided to further strengthen cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, including political and diplomatic engagement, economic and trade relations, defence and security, health, education, science and technology and agriculture and environmental collaboration. Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed to forge cooperation in different sectors.
The visit carried special significance, as Pakistan and Indonesia are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. The bilateral relationship is multidimensional and covers political, economic, trade, culture and defence cooperation besides sharing similar outlook on a range of global and regional issues and cooperation in multilateral forums and institutions including OIC, ASEAN and Group of 77. The Indonesian Government and people always demonstrated deep affection and love for Pakistan and went out of the way to express solidarity with the country during difficult times. This fact was acknowledged and appreciated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who recalled that Indonesia stood by Pakistan like a rock wall in our 1965 war with a neighbouring country, adding this will be remembered by the people of Pakistan for all times to come. The Prime Minister also assured to work collectively with the Indonesian president to achieve the targets set for collaboration in different fields. In a significant development, President Subianto said both Pakistan and Indonesia have agreed to expedite rebalancing of bilateral trade relations in practical terms. It may be pointed out that Indonesia is among the top ten trading partners of Pakistan with bilateral trade currently standing at $4 billion. However, it should be a matter of concern for the two countries that the bilateral trade volume stood at over $5 billion in 2022 and instead of increasing it decreased to $4 billion. The balance of trade is also heavily tilted in favour of Indonesia, understandably due to massive import of edible oil but there are bright prospects to jack up the trade volume by expanding meaningfully the import and export of different items. It is also time that the two countries demonstrate commitment for early finalization of the dialogue aimed at conversion of the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It is encouraging that the two sides, while recognizing the importance of traditional trade commodities including agricultural and industrial goods, palm oil, surgical instruments and pharmaceutical products for the bilateral trade, agreed to explore opportunities to enhance cooperation in the services sector as well including information technology, cyber-security and fintech. The importance of cooperation in the halal food industry and Islamic finance was also underscored. In another concrete outcome of the visit, Pakistan will send its doctors, dentists, medical professionals and other related experts to Indonesia to fulfill its requirements in the field of medicine, a gesture appreciated by the Indonesian leader. Economic collaboration will strengthen meaningfully if the two countries followed up the understanding reached to explore measures to promote investment cooperation in diverse sectors including and not limited to agriculture, IT, mining and minerals, tourism, infrastructure, digital infrastructure, connectivity and energy, including through engagement between Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and Indonesia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (Danantara). The decision taken for institutionalizing defence industrial cooperation, specialized training programs and exchanges between military training institutions has the potential to help fulfill their defence requirements. There was also remarkable similarity of views on regional and global issues as reflected in their positions on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine. The outcome of the visit is in line with ‘Look East’ policy of Pakistan but it all depends on their ability to translate understanding into practical measures to boost mutual cooperation in all agreed fields.
