RI ministers to attend JC meeting in India
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari arrived in New Delhi on Monday to attend the second meeting of the Joint Commission (JC) between Indonesia and India, an official from India's Ministry of External Affairs said in the Indian capital.
"Both ministers arrived in New Delhi on Monday. The second Joint Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday," an official, from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, who refused to identify himself, told The Jakarta Post over the telephone on Monday.
The meeting of the second Joint Commission is aimed at strengthening the existing areas of cooperation and identifying new areas.
The first meeting was held in September 2003 in Yogyakarta.
India's External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh will host a luncheon in honor of his Indonesian dignitaries.
Currently, a 45-member high-level Indonesian delegation is in India to attend various meetings.
Prior to the Joint Commission meeting, a two-day Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was held, during which both countries' officials discussed a wide range of issues that included investment and trade ties, security and political issues, terrorism, agriculture, science and technology and human resources development, health, education and technical cooperation.
The Indonesia-India Expert Working Group and the Indonesia- India Joint Working Group on counterterrorism met in New Delhi on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 respectively.
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, and the world's second most populous state -- India -- are the leading regional powers in their respective regions and have maintained close relations with each other since their independence from their colonial powers.
These ties are moving at a faster pace in cultural, political and educational fields but slowly though surely on economic and security fronts.
Both countries' leaders have maintained close contacts through bilateral visits.
Indonesia's former presidents Abdurrahman Wahid (2000) and Megawati Soekarnoputri (2002) both visited India, and India's former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Indonesia twice since 2000. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh in Vientiane in November 2004 during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting.
Thanks to the sincere efforts of both sides, the value of bilateral trade increased dramatically in recent years.
For example, the total trade value between the two nations jumped to US$2.4 billion in 2003 from a mere $1.4 billion in 2000, and it is now poised to cross the $3 billion-mark in 2004.
A new chapter in the relations between Indonesia and India will be opened when Prime Minister Singh visits Indonesia next month to attend the Asian-African Summit, which will be held in Jakarta and Bandung.