A 29-member delegation from National Resilience Institute of the Republic of Indonesia (NRI-RI) visited IDSA and interacted with scholars on ‘India’s Strategic Neighbourhood’.

The delegation led by Dr. H.M Said Saile (IG Police) included Prof. H. Didin S. Damanhiri, Joko Prostowo, Budi Setiyadi and Wahiu Djatmiko. Members of armed forces, judiciary, police, business chambers as well as academicians accompanied them.

The Deputy Director General, IDSA provided an introduction to IDSA. The interaction had presentations by Ashok Behuria, Cdr. Abhijeet Singh, Jagannath Panda and Udai Bhanu Singh.

Dr Behuria spoke on terrorism, Islamic radicalisation in South Asia, transition towards democracy in Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives and on India’s current neighbourhood policy. Cdr. Abhijit Singh spoke on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region and underlined the potential areas of cooperation between India and Indonesia. Dr Panda spoke on India’s Look East Policy in the context of current East Asian geostrategic and security dynamics. Dr Udai Bhanu Singh spoke on India-Indonesia and also hinted on the importance of creating value chains in the region.

During the discussion various issues were raised including India’s taxation system; natural resource management and common threats to IORA countries. Questions concerning how India will tackle the emerging ISIS threats; what will be India’s position if the ASEAN Economic Community is formed within 2015 were raised. Also what are India’s priorities within LEP; where does ASEAN stand in India’s enhanced Look East Policy and whether or not there will be a continuation of nuclear race between India and Pakistan?

Report Prepared by Sampa Kundu and Munshi Zubaer Haque, Southeast Asia and Oceania Centre