India and Indonesia on Saturday set an ambitious USD 50 billion target for bilateral trade over the next six years as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joko Widodo discussed ways to deepen cooperation in a number of key areas including economy, defense and maritime security.
The two leaders, who are in Osaka, Japan for the G20 Summit, met in the morning and discussed ways to boost bilateral ties and enhance cooperation in trade and investment. According to the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, India and Indonesia set a USD 50 billion target for bilateral trade by 2025.
Trade between the two countries in 2016 was USD 12.9 billion. It rose 28.7 percent to USD 18.13 billion in 2017 with Indonesia’s exports to India reaching USD 14.08 billion and its imports from India standing at USD 4.05 billion, according to Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency.
During his meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Indonesian President Widodo, the two leaders discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, defense and maritime fronts. This was Modi’s first official engagement on the second day of the June 28-29 Summit.
“Beginning Day 2 of the G20 Summit by meeting a valued friend. PM Narendra Modi holds talks with President Joko Widodo on ways to deepen India-Indonesia cooperation,” the prime minister’s office tweeted.
In a tweet, Kumar said, “Taking forward the comprehensive strategic partnership. PM Narendra Modi had a productive meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on margins of G20 Summit. Discussed expanding cooperation in trade & investment, defense, maritime, space & exchanged views on Indo-Pacific vision”.
On Friday, Modi held bilateral and plurilateral meetings with many leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.