India, Indonesia renew Coast Guard cooperation as maritime ties expand

India and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding renewing collaboration between their Coast Guards, as the two countries moved to expand a shared maritime vision first unveiled in 2018, Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon said at a Ministry of External Affairs briefing on 7 July 2026 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Jakarta.

Tandon said Indonesia has agreed to place a liaison officer at the Indian Ocean Region Information Fusion Centre in Gurugram, India, to help expand mutual maritime domain awareness. He said the two countries also discussed enhancing maritime connectivity, noting that the closest islands in India’s Andaman and Nicobar chain and Indonesia are separated by only about 150 kilometres, despite the two capitals being far apart.

The Indonesian side expressed interest in India’s Great Nicobar Island project, while Modi in turn expressed interest in the development of Indonesia’s Sabang Port, according to Tandon. He said a joint task force established under the 2018 shared maritime vision has met twice so far, with a third meeting expected later this year.

Tandon said the maritime cooperation forms one of five pillars of what Modi described in an address to the Indonesian parliament as the “Ganga-Mahakam Vision” for the bilateral relationship. He said India and Indonesia, despite being geographically distant at the capital level, are maritime neighbours whose cooperation spans connectivity, shipbuilding and people-to-people links.

The maritime discussions took place alongside talks on defense industry collaboration, including BrahMos and air-to-air missile cooperation, as well as economic initiatives covering critical minerals, digital payments and education partnerships, according to officials at the briefing.