Enhancing Maritime Security In The Indian Ocean Region: India-Indonesia Surveillance And Cooperation

Policy Update
Jayasree

Background

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR), consisting of landlocked countries as well as archipelagos, is an essential medium of international exchange. It facilitates 75% of global trade and 50% of daily oil consumption, generating 1 trillion US dollars (USD) in goods and services, with intra-Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) trade reaching USD 800 billion in 2023. IOR is the habitat of two-thirds of the world population, making it a zone of concentration, imperative to be safeguarded against illegal migration, maritime terrorism, trafficking, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, and unilateral nation-state aggressions in the anarchic ocean world.

Source: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

India and Indonesia are two of the largest democracies of the IOR with a shared history of religious exchange, political alignment, and maritime trade. They were the founding members of the Non-Alignment Movement in the unprecedented era of the Cold War and have sustained a long-lasting friendship ever since.

The first India-Indonesia agreement was formalised in 1951, which established a consensus of perpetual peace, unalterable friendship, and future cooperation in areas such as trade, culture and military affairs. India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have significantly contributed to their bilateral trade, with a manifestation of Indonesia ranking as India’s eighth-largest trading partner as of the Financial Year of India (FYI) 2023-2024. They share similarities in their maritime collaborative principles with India’s Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and Indonesia’s ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

The assessment of the combined surveillance strength and its achievements in India and Indonesia requires assessing their cooperative mechanisms, impact and inconsistencies.

Foundational Agreement

The mutual agreement and recognition of the respective countries’ maritime demarcation have been strong since its inception. This proves the fundamentally secure relationship between the two. The 1977 Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the Continental Shelf Boundary was the first India-Indonesian maritime agreement to have been signed and ratified. This agreement lays down the mutual desire to extend the boundary between the two countries’ Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean areas not covered by the aforementioned agreement. It sought to settle permanently the limits referred to in the given regions to exercise their unobstructed sovereign rights.

The agreement concluded on articles dealing with coordinate specification, usage/extraction of natural resources (deposited or structural field), and the peaceful settlement of disputes by consultation and negotiation. Building on this solid legal groundwork, India and Indonesia have progressively expanded their cooperation through multiple strategic and operational engagements.

Cooperative Mechanisms

Empowered by a strong bilateral maritime bond formed by the 1977 agreement, India and Indonesia have had an extensive system of strategic military collaborations and defence industry partnerships for almost a century. Their purview of collaborative military engagements includes exercises/patrols, training/courses, bilateral & multilateral exercises, conclaves, symposiums & events, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs) and the defence industry.

Some of these activities include Covid-19 response, India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT), Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo, Multilateral Naval Exercise Milan, Bilateral Army Exercise Garuda Shakti, Bilateral Naval Exercise Samudra Shakti, Joint Defence Cooperation Committee, Services Staff Talks, Indian Coast Guard – Bakamla Cooperation, Cross visits/OTR of Warships and Aircraft, Training Exchanges, and Subject Matter Experts Exchange and ADMM Plus.

The India-Indonesia Defence Industry Exhibition-cum-Seminar in 2024 was a new-dimensional cross-sector collaboration in the defence arena with the inclusion of prominent Indian defence companies, Indonesian state-owned defence enterprises and private defence establishments.

IND-CORPAT is a series of biannual navalnavy exercises between the Indian and Indonesian navies along the international maritime boundary line since 2002. Its primary aim is the security of shipping and international trade. As of 2025, there have been 44 editions of IND-CORPAT displaying a dedicated maritime security of the Andaman Sea and the crucial Straits of Malacca. Ever since its inception and conduct over the years, it has helped in building up understanding and interoperability between navies and facilitation of institutional measures to prevent and suppress a wide range of concerns, including illegal immigration, search and rescue operations, drug trafficking, IUU fishing, and maritime terrorism.

While these demonstrate substantial and tangible defense cooperation between India and Indonesia, only the assessment of these collaborations in terms of providing security to the IOR can magnify their importance.

Importance

The IOR is a region of strategic value to India for its role in the geoeconomic lifeline and maritime diplomacy. India has been emerging as a developing amiable diplomatic ambassador of the global south, bridging the gaps caused by the narcissism of minor differences amongst the regional powers. In a special focus on maritime security and surveillance, India is reinforcing maritime leadership by the establishment of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), Project Mausam, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

Under the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Asia-Africa Growth Corridor and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India has established strategic partnerships that are pivotal in maintaining peaceful geopolitical relations amidst the brewing tensions in the IOR.

The crucial regions of maritime focus that are shared by India and Indonesia are the Malacca Strait, the South China Sea, the Sunda Strait, the Lombok Strait, and the Ombai-Wetar Straits. China is a common threat to the maritime sovereignty of these regions, especially the South China Sea. The territorial claims on the significant regions of this area, named 9-dash line (historically claimed as 11-dash line), is inclusive of the North Natuna Sea. This falls under Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

China’s presence in IOR, often exhibited in military aggressions or unilateral navy operations, poses a threat to the maritime sovereignty of India as well as other countries in the region. The geographical proximity of Sri-Lanka and India poses a threat. Since the island nation harbours a close relationship with China via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Besides the historical Indo-China territorial disputes, standoffs and wars, India and China have had a tumultuous relationship in maritime traffic and shipping. In 2024, Indian security forces intercepted the Malta-flagged ship CMA CGM Attila at Nhava Sheva port (Mumbai), suspecting a consignment of dual-use items destined for Pakistan’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

China’s growing dominance and exercise of unwelcome seignorial powers have led to situational cooperation amongst regional powers. In September 2025, a satellite captured a third-generation Chinese spy vessel named Yuang Wang-5 in the Indian Ocean Region, near India. A recent condemnation against China came after its showdown with the Philippines, while using cannon blasts led to the collision of Chinese vessels near the disputed area of Scarborough Shoal. India, Japan, the Philippines, and the USA raised concerns over China’s militarisation activities in the East and South East China Sea.

While India cannot afford to escalate its tensions with China despite being backed by major powers, idealistically, it can find a buffer zone other than bilateral trade that can diplomatically absorb the geopolitical shock waves between India and China. This is where Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) within the international context plays the role of a potential pacifier.

GMF is aligned with ASEAN centrality, where Indonesia uses the forum to strengthen its strategic power and cooperation with the global powers; a major reason for its “Look West” policy. Conversely, GMF is also a middle power strategy between China’s BRI and Japan’s Free-Open Indo Pacific (FOIP). It has cooperation with China on infrastructure projects like modernizing ports and shipping routes to accelerate trade and improve logistics. However, the ‘Poros Maritim Dunia’ of Indonesia has the least potential to actualise as a buffer between India and China, given the realities of prevailing ocean politics.

Source: Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative – CSIS

These raise several questions, including if the India-Indonesia collaborations are mere symbolism that lack sovereign implementations of foreign affairs and sustain only on building infrastructure, developing understanding, and defense interoperability.

Way Forward

India and Indonesia should strengthen their maritime security cooperation through practical institutional measures.

Developing a unified Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) system incorporating satellite, naval, and coastal assets will enable real-time surveillance and increase rapid responses, especially in critical chokepoints.
Expanding joint patrols and exercises, such as IND-CORPAT, to include cyber and unmanned autonomous systems will improve operational interoperability against contemporary threats.
Bilateral legal and policy frameworks need streamlining to address IUU fishing, trafficking, and maritime crimes effectively.
Increasing defense industry collaboration through joint research, technology transfer, and co-production of surveillance assets, will build indigenous capacity.
Signing the long-awaitedlong-awaiting Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Indonesia can open more bilateral opportunities between both the marine economies.
Regional platforms like IORA, QUAD, AOIP and ASEAN can be leveraged by both the nations, to counter challenges like China’s assertiveness in disputed waters.
Finally, integrating security cooperation with sustainable development initiatives, such as disaster response and coastal community support, will promote resilience and stability in the Indian Ocean Region. This approach can transform bilateral relations into a prosperous regional partnership.

References

Moudgil, S. (2021). India and Indonesia: Converging maritime interests in the confluence of the oceans. Maritime India. https://maritimeindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/India-and-Indonesia-For-Directors-Approval-converted.pdf

Australian Institute of International Affairs. (2025). Trilateral Maritime Security Dialogue 2025 Brief 1. University of Melbourne. https://aii.unimelb.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Trilateral-Maritime-Security-Dialogue-2025-Brief-1.pdf

Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. (n.d.). Shared vision of India-Indonesia maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/29933/Shared_Vision_of_IndiaIndonesia_Maritime_Cooperation_in_the_IndoPacific

Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2024). [Title of press release from PRID 1681520]. https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1681520

Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2025). [Title of press release from PRID 1882468]. https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1882468

Consulate General of India, Bali. (n.d.). Bilateral relations. https://www.cgibali.gov.in/page/bilateral-relationsbilateral-relations/

International Strategic Initiative Indonesia. (n.d.). Indonesia, India and the geopolitical currents of Indo-Pacific. https://www.isi-indonesia.com/post/indonesia-india-and-the-geopolitical-currents-of-indo-pacific

India Business. (n.d.). India-Indonesia maritime and trade ties see rapid growth. https://indbiz.gov.in/india-indonesia-maritime-and-trade-ties-see-rapid-growth/

Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. (n.d.). Agreement / treaty document [ID77B1716]. https://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/LegalTreatiesDoc/ID77B1716.pdf

About the Contributor:

Jayasree is a research intern at IMPRI (Impact and Policy Research Institute), and is currently pursuing her bachelors in political science from Madras Christian College, Chennai.