This volume unfolds the trajectory of India-Indonesia bilateralism within a chronological framework. It delineates three crucial phases in this relationship: the 1945-55 era of friendship; the 1956-66 period of tensions; the post-1966 years of strategic companionship. It outlines how the bilateral engagement has gradually assumed an ‘ASEAN-centric’, ‘Asia-centric’ and ‘global cooperative’ strategic character. This transformed relationship has unfolded new opportunities which, if realised, can result in a more productive and constructive bilateralism between India and Indonesia. The book should hopefully be of use to both scholars of international relations as well as practitioners of diplomacy.
Suranjan Das and Subhadeep Bhattacharya
Suranjan Das is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University and Honorary Director of Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata. He had been a Professor of History at the Calcutta University, also serving that University as Vice-Chancellor from 2 May 2008 to 14 July 2015. Professor Das is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter. He specialises in South Asian History and Politics, especially on issues relating to nation-building and Indian Foreign Policy. He has authored six monographs, co-authored four books, co-edited seven volumes and published 30 articles in refereed journals and edited volumes, which are widely cited.
Subhadeep Bhattacharya is a Research Assistant at Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata, and had been a Fellow at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata. He holds post-graduate and M.Phil degrees from the University of Calcutta. His area of interest is India-Southeast Asia relations and Indo-Pacific geopolitics. He has authored two books Looking East since 1947: India’s Southeast Asia Policy and Understanding South China Sea Geopolitics. He has also written one Occasional Paper and one Policy Brief, co-authored Indo-Vietnam Relations in Emerging Global Order, co-edited India and Southeast Asia: States, Borders and Culture and contributed scholarly articles in edited volumes.
Contents
Preface vii
1. Historical and Cultural Contacts between India and Indonesia
2. 1945-50: India’s Support for Indonesia’s Freedom Struggle
3. 1950-55: Post-Independence India-Indonesia Relations under Nehru and Sukarno
4. 1956-66: The Years of Tensions
4.1. The Sondhi Affair and the Malaysian Issue
4.2. Indonesia’s pro-Pakistan Stance in 1965
5. Revival of Indo-Indonesian Friendship
5.1. 1966 and After
5.2. The 1971 Indo-Pak War and Indonesia
6. India-Indonesian Bilateralism under India’s Look East Policy
7. India-Indonesia Relations under the Act East Policy
Looking Ahead to a New Era
Political Science
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