India and Indonesia reassess engagement with Non-Aligned Movement amid shifting geopolitics

The Story in Brief

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jakarta last month, the joint statement by India and Indonesia addressed a wide set of strategic issues – the Indo‑Pacific, BRICS, ASEAN, maritime security, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, resilient supply chains and cooperation among the Global South – but made no reference to the Non Aligned Movement (NAM). The NAM was also absent from the joint statement issued during President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to India in January 2025. India and Indonesia were founding members of NAM and their cooperation at the 1955 Bandung Conference helped lay its intellectual foundations.

The article argues the Cold War conditions that gave rise to non‑alignment no longer obtain. Both countries now pursue strategic autonomy across multiple contemporary frameworks – ASEAN, BRICS, the G20, the Indian Ocean Rim Association and overlapping Indo‑Pacific initiatives – and prioritise defence industrial cooperation, maritime domain awareness, artificial intelligence, digital connectivity, critical minerals and resilient supply chains. It says principles associated with Bandung – sovereignty, territorial integrity, international law and peaceful dispute settlement – remain, but are increasingly expressed through issue‑based partnerships rather than NAM as the primary diplomatic vehicle.

The Indian Opinion

Some readers or commentators might treat the omission of NAM from recent joint statements as evidence that India and Indonesia have abandoned non‑alignment or that the movement is defunct. The article cautions against such a simple reading: the NAM still exists and many Bandung principles continue to inform policy. It is reasonable to note a shift in how strategic autonomy is pursued – from a single Cold War institution to diversified, issue‑based cooperation across multiple bodies – but the long‑term implications are uncertain. The absence of NAM in two joint statements signals a change of emphasis, not definitive proof of abandonment.

Original article: Are India and Indonesia Leaving the Non-Aligned Movement Behind? – The Diplomat – Asia-Pacific (Google News (India))

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.