Jakarta [Indonesia]

Indonesia has become the latest Southeast Asian nation to acquire the India-Russia jointly developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, strengthening India's emergence as a defence exporter and deepening strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

Earlier, Vietnam and the Philippines, both countries with disputed maritime borders with China, have signed agreements for the same purchase.

Besides BrahMos, Jakarta has also signed an agreement to buy ASTRA beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles. The agreement was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to Indonesia and as a reaffirmation of both countries' “commitment towards a free, open, transparent, rules-based, peaceful, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.”

The Philippines had signed the agreement to purchase Brahmos in 2022, followed by Vietnam. Both the South China Sea countries have a maritime border dispute with China.

Earlier, China had reacted guardedly to India delivering BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines early this year. It said that the two countries' defence cooperation should not harm the interests of any third party and harm regional stability.”

Experts say the sale of BrahMos is all the more important for India and the safety of world trade routes since the area has four important channels – The Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Sunda, the Straits of Lombok, and the Straits of Ombai-Witar, connecting the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.

With China’s ongoing border disputes with countries in the region and hegemonic disposition, three of its neighbours having one of the deadliest missiles is likely to prove a major deterrence to China’sassertive regional posture.

An Indonesian minister posted images of PM Modi's interaction with his country leaders during the visit on X:

Mendampingi Presiden @prabowo menerima kunjungan Perdana Menteri India H.E. Narendra Modi di Istana Merdeka Jakarta (Selasa, 7 Juli 2026).

Kunjungan ini menjadi momen penting dalam memperkuat kemitraan strategis komprehensif Indonesia–India yang dibangun di atas kedekatan… pic.twitter.com/skx8TNMRNK

— Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (@sjafriesjams) July 7, 2026

A joint statement released after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the two leaders highlighted that economic and trade cooperation remains a key pillar of the dynamic India-Indonesia ties and acknowledged the vast economic and developmental synergies between India's vision of 'Viksit Bharat 2047' and 'Indonesia Emas 2045'.

The two sides agreed to expand defence cooperation through regular military dialogue, joint exercises, co-development of defence technologies, naval cooperation, hydrography, intelligence sharing, defence industrial collaboration, maintenance facilities, and capacity building. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in maritime security, critical minerals, rare earth supply chains and steel manufacturing.

Both leaders agreed to further strengthen cooperation and enhance engagements in both traditional and emerging areas of defence cooperation, including regular defence dialogue, joint exercises, staff talks, joint research and co-production of new defence technologies, port calls, peacekeeping activities, information sharing, hydrography, capacity building, cadet training and exchanges, and defence industrial cooperation.

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They welcomed the elevation of defence cooperation, including through cooperation on the BrahMos Missile System, and the Air-to-Air Missile Cooperation Agreement.