India has cultural edge to lead world: Indonesia envoy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India has the cultural strengths that are ideally suited for the country to take on a global leadership position, according to Indonesian ambassador to India, Andi M Ghalib.

“India has the cultural strengths for a leadership position. It is a cultural superpower, even though it may not be a nuclear superpower. And it is the cultural strength that is required for a leadership position in the world. It is through winning hearts and minds that leadership can be achieved”, Mr Ghalib said.

He said the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries had shown a sharp growth from the time India and Indonesia signed the “new strategic partnership” in November 2005.

When the agreement was signed, it was expected that bilateral trade would touch $10 billion in 2011, but India-Indonesia business volumes have grown from $4 billion in 2005 to $10.55 billion in 2009, crossing the target ahead of time. The two countries are targeting a two-way trade worth $ 20 billion by 2020.

Mr Ghalib said there was good potential for the two countries to expand business opportunities in the areas of education, IT and tourism, and that trade treaties like the Asean pact were a natural corollary of the globalisation process. India is Indonesia’s largest buyer of crude palm oil and an importer of its mining, petroleum and paper products, while India exports refined petroleum products, wheat, rice, sugar and steel to Indonesia.