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India gets its way, Indonesian president Prabowo ‘not to visit’ Pakistan after Republic Day parade

Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto likely to be announced as chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade soon. Reports had emerged of a visit to Pakistan immediately after.

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New Delhi: India has got its way as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has decided not to travel to Pakistan after attending the Republic Day parade in India on 26 January 2025 as the chief guest, ThePrint has learnt.

“The Indonesian President [Prabowo Subianto] will not travel to Pakistan after he visits New Delhi,” people familiar with the matter informed ThePrint Friday. One person in the loop said there would be no Pakistan visit during Prabowo’s India visit for Republic Day.

India has been pushing for the de-hyphenation of India and Pakistan, encouraging leaders not to combine a visit to New Delhi with Islamabad. Prabowo’s prior plan to visit Islamabad directly from New Delhi on the same day that he will likely be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade is something India has not been keen on.

As reported by ThePrint earlier, an invitation was extended to the newly inaugurated Indonesian President to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebration. India is likely to confirm Prabowo’s visit soon.

However, earlier this month, reports emerged in Pakistan of an invitation extended to Prabowo for a three-day visit to the country at the end of January, right after Republic Day.

Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani Prime Minister, has constituted a special committee to look into enhancing bilateral ties between Indonesia and Pakistan. The committee held a meeting Thursday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the state-run news agency.

The meeting, chaired by Ahsan Iqbal, the minister for planning, development and special initiatives, had senior officials from various ministries, including planning, commerce, finance and foreign affairs, and Islamabad’s envoy to Indonesia, who was present via video link, discussing various proposals to strengthen cooperation and trade with Indonesia, according to APP. 

Foreign leaders of countries with which India has strong ties get invitations to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. Indonesia is considered a strong maritime neighbour. The Indian government has, in recent years, paid special attention to its ties with the South East Asian country.

In 2018, then President of Indonesia Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, along with nine other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade.

Jokowi travelled to Islamabad—right after for a two-day state visit from 26 January 2018 to 27 January 2018.


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India-Indonesia ties 

India is looking to export the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Indonesia and undertake projects in the Sabang port of the Aceh province in Indonesia.

In November 2023, the Indonesian envoy to India, Ina Krishnamurti, said that both projects would be decided upon by the next administration in Jakarta after elections in February 2024.

Both issues will likely be on the agenda during Prabowo’s visit to India. The Indonesian defence minister, Lt. Gen Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (retd), after a meeting with India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi last month, confirmed that “collaboration on advanced technologies such as BrahMos is in the spotlight”.

Admiral Tripathi was in Indonesia on a four-day visit in December 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Jakarta for the ASEAN-India Summit and East Asia Summit on 7 September 2023—just two days before hosting the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies in New Delhi as the chair of the G20 leader’s summit.

The then President of Indonesia, Jokowi, appreciated his Jakarta visit amid India’s preparations for hosting the G20 summit. Then, October 2024 saw the inauguration of Prabowo as president.

Modi and Prabowo met on the margins of the G20 summit held in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro on 18 November 2024—the first meeting between the two leaders. The two, at the time, called for steps to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)


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