Comparison Between Indonesia-India and Indonesia-Korea (by: Ulvia Z.)

Indonesia-India

Diplomatic relation between Indonesia and India experienced dynamic changes since Asian African Conference in 1955. Then the relationship between Indonesia and India became closer and warm. But about a decade later, when the India-Pakistan war, the relation was getting worse and deteriorating because Indonesia sent arms supplies to Pakistan and mobilized the mass to stage the anti-India demonstration in Jakarta. However, this situation was changed into warm relation again after Soeharto seized the power and both Indonesia and India restored their diplomatic relation. Indonesia and Indonesia then agreed to maintain the peace and security in Southeast Asia in order to set up a strategic regional balance. Both countries keep maintaining the cooperation in security and defense. However, they have not maintained good cooperation in economic relation.

For some decades Indonesia and India has made 23 MoUs since 1951 up to 2005. These MoUs point outs five kinds of cooperation, nine MoUs in security and defense cooperation, 8 MoUs in economic cooperation, 2 Mous in friendship cooperation, 2 MoUs in general diplomatic policy cooperation, and 2 MoUs in cultural cooperation. Indonesia was interested in buying weapons from India such as torpedoes, corvette warships, and submarines. Both countries also signed a MoU on war against international terrorism 2004 and they established a Joint Work Group (JWG) and had the first meeting in February 2005.

But the other cooperation between both countries is not as good as the cooperation in security and defense. They had not fully maintained cooperation in another field like culture. Though Indonesia and India signed 8 MoUs in economic cooperation, but in field it didn’t work well. Both countries have different economic system and India’s economic development is faster than in Indonesia. It can be regarded as a bit unfortunate since Indonesia got its independence two years earlier than India did. In 2008 India recorded US $ 50.3 billion in trade volume, while Indonesia recorded only US $ 25.53 billion in the same year. India’s economic development ran twice faster than Indonesia did.

India succeeded in applying its liberal economic system and strength the economic infrastructure in technology and human resources. Indonesia has good system in economic development but it didn’t work because Indonesia was so preoccupied with corruption, collusion, and nepotism that spread like fungi. The government of India also developed a good educational system that made more professionals in India. The domestic situation influence economic development, India has more amount of population than Indonesia does, but it is more difficult to develop economic in Indonesia because Indonesia has more tribes or ethnics than India, or more pluralism than India. Each tribe has different culture and different train of thought, so there are many pro and contra between the Indonesian government and its people.

Indonesia and India had not fully gained the benefit from their cooperation in economic and cultural cooperation. And both countries had not maintained the educational cooperation. There is no formal Indian culture study in Indonesia that made by Indonesian government or university, it is important to make some cultural exchange between Indonesia and India. Indian movie industry has exported its movies to Indonesia and many Indonesian people that have interest in Indian movies. But it only happened some years ago, Indian movies were popular in Indonesia before Korean Wave came in Indonesia.

Indonesia-Korea

The Indonesia-Korea relationship continues to develop since the establishment of diplomatic relation in 1973. Korea is now the 6^th largest trading partner of Indonesia, and Indonesia is now the 10^th largest trading partner of Korea. The relationship between the two nations has developed into a thriving strategic partnership. About 23.000 Indonesians are in Korea to contribute to the significant progress of the Korean economy, and about 31.000 Koreans and 1.200 firms are in Indonesia. The two countries commit to strengthen exchanges in fields such as energy and resources which lead to economic cooperation. Both Korea and Indonesia also will additionally focus on the development of a wider mutual understanding each other through increased cultural exchange.

Economic relations between Indonesia and Korea have been further strengthened with cooperation which covers many fields: economic development, information technology, foreign workers, energy, maritime and fisheries, forestry, tourism, and science and technology. On bilateral trade, like what was mentioned in previous paragraph, Indonesia and Korea and Korea are important trading partner each other. Total trade between two countries in 2008 amounted to $ 19.25 billion, bigger than in 2007 which amounted only $ 14.89 billion. In the field of IT cooperation, there is cooperation between Radio Republic Indonesia (RRI) and Korea Broadcasting System (KBS). RRI dispatched one of its broadcasters to KBSin Korea to host the Indonesian language broadcast program.

Both countries maintain cooperation not only in economic field but also in cultural exchanges cooperation. Korea has developed studies for Indonesian language and cultures for about more than three decades ago and Indonesia has developed Korean language and cultural studies for about a decades. Since the Korean Star Wave or Hallyu that became popular in Indonesia in 2002s, interests in Korean culture of Indonesian people increases each years. Many MoUs were signed between universities in Indonesia and universities in Korea that contributed in cultural studies between both countries. Korea also established center for Korean studies organization in Indonesia like Korea Foundation and KOICA. Both organizations have supported Indonesian students and scholars to study about Korea in Indonesia or in Korea.

Relation Indonesia-India started more than a decade earlier than the relation Indonesia-Korea. But now the cooperation between Indonesia and Korea is more significant than between Indonesia and India. Cooperation Indonesia-India emphasized cooperation in security and defense, but in another field both countries has not fully gained the benefit from the cooperation. Both countries also passed the relation from warm relation to bad relation and now turned on warm relation again. Cooperation between Indonesia and Korea additionally focus on the economic and cultural cooperation, and both countries have gained the benefit of the cooperation. And since the forming diplomatic relation between Indonesia and Korea, both countries are keeping their warm relation till now. And both Indonesia and Korea seems that they are confident that the bilateral relationship between Korea and Indonesia will continue to develop for the mutual benefit of two countries.