India-Indonesia Ink BrahMos, Astra Missile Deals; Agree to Jointly Develop Sabang Port Near Malacca Strait

India and Indonesia signed a series of major defence, maritime and cultural agreements on July 7, 2026, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, marking what both leaders described as the start of a "golden chapter" in bilateral ties. BrahMos and Astra Missile Deals Indonesia's Defence Ministry signed a contract with BrahMos Aerospace for supersonic cruise missiles, alongside a separate cooperation pact between Bharat Dynamics Limited and Indonesian defence firm Republikorp covering Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles for integration on Indonesia's Sukhoi fighter fleet. Neither government disclosed official financial terms, though Indian sources had earlier indicated the combined package could be worth around $630 million, following a March 2026 agreement that had pegged the BrahMos component alone at $200-350 million. Indonesia becomes the third country, after the Philippines and Vietnam's ongoing discussions, to formalize a BrahMos acquisition. Interest in the missile system has grown since India used it in combat for the first time during its four-day conflict with Pakistan last year. The Astra deal is being viewed as a notable milestone for India's domestic defence manufacturing push, expanding New Delhi's footprint as a missile exporter across Southeast Asia. Sabang Port: A Foothold Near the Malacca Strait In one of the visit's most strategically significant outcomes, India and Indonesia agreed to jointly develop Sabang Port on Weh Island, off the northern tip of Sumatra, roughly 100 miles from India's own Great Nicobar transshipment project. President Prabowo confirmed his support for developing both Sabang and India's Andaman and Nicobar port infrastructure as linked maritime nodes. The project is expected to include cruise and marine-tourism facilities, shipbuilding and ship-repair capacity, and shore-based services supporting offshore energy activity in the Andaman Sea. A joint task force has been set up to oversee the port's development and connectivity between India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Indonesia's Aceh province. Analysts note the move gives India a presence on both flanks of the Malacca Strait — a chokepoint often cited in Chinese strategic literature as Beijing's "Malacca dilemma" — though Jakarta has been careful not to frame the project as directed against China, given its own substantial economic relationship with Beijing. Prambanan Temple Restoration Modi and Prabowo also launched a conservation project for the roughly 1,000-year-old Prambanan Temple complex near Yogyakarta, Indonesia's largest Hindu temple site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. The restoration will be carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India in partnership with Indonesian cultural authorities, using the internationally recognized anastylosis method to reassemble original stonework. The agreement had been under discussion since Prabowo's 2025 visit to India. Diplomatic Tone At a joint press briefing, Prabowo publicly credited India's development model, telling Modi he had "copied many" of India's programmes because they had succeeded "for hundreds of millions of people with the same background as Indonesia." Modi, for his part, said the two countries' 2018 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was "taking a new flight," pointing also to new cooperation on UPI-Indonesia payment integration, an upcoming IIM Bangalore campus in Indonesia, and critical minerals investment in nickel and rare-earth processing. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $28.15 billion in 2024-25, with Indonesia ranking as India's second-largest trading partner within ASEAN.