Relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka have been of great value to both countries at multilateral and bilateral levels

On the occasion of celebrating seven decades of friendship Indonesia and Sri Lanka hope to further strengthen its historic, cultural and diplomatic relations to face emerging challenges; especially in the geopolitical front. Identifying the contribution made by the Sri Lankan Malay community to its cultural fabric and the origin of various cuisine, musical instruments and designs- such as Batiks- Sri Lanka hopes to expand on this unique cultural connection while placing emphasis on the expansion of the blue economy. As founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement both countries have travelled a long way on a diplomatic note.

Flourishing bilateral relations 

Recently, an event was organised at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute to mark the 70th Anniversary of Indonesia-Sri Lanka relations. In her goodwill message, Minister of Foreign Affairs Indonesia Retno L. P Marsudi said that the 70th anniversary is a reminder that the partnership between the two countries should remain strong in good times and bad. “As a friend, Indonesia has helped ease the burden of the people of Sri Lanka in this time of crisis such as with the provision of medicine and medical equipment since April this year. The global situation is in a state of flux and no country is immune to its devastating effect. Pressures caused by food insecurity, energy price hikes and financial instability add more burden to our people; especially in developing and low income countries.

History reveals how Indonesia and Sri Lanka have stood side by side and championed the voice of developing countries

To some countries in our region, a 10% increase in oil prices will reduce national revenue as much as 0.7%. A 10% increase in wheat prices will result a 1% increase in poverty levels. Therefore Indonesia and Sri Lanka must work together to advance the interest of developing countries. If you look back at history, Indonesia and Sri Lanka stood side by side, championing the voice of developing countries. In 1955-three years after Indonesia and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations- we initiated the Asia – Africa conference. Our collaboration extended the road towards the decolonisation process and emboldened the spirit of inclusive multilateralism. It shows that we could be a part of solutions to global problems and we must continue to emulate this spirit in addressing the various crisis we face today. On the 7th decade of our partnership I’m pleased to say that our bilateral relationships continue to flourish across all sectors. Looking ahead we must step up our effort to identify opportunities to unleash the full potential of our cooperation among others by intensifying agricultural corporation as well as encouraging greater participation of Indonesian state-owned enterprises in Sri Lanka’s development,” said Marsudi.

The ocean as the future

“Sri Lankan ties with Indonesia date back to ancient times when Sri Lanka was a well-known economic hub located on the maritime silk route connecting East and West through trade, commerce and people,” said Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry. “Our two nations have been influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism and our ancient kingdoms nurtured contacts in the 9th and 12th centuries. We have both been shaped by experience with the Dutch that brought the beautiful Batik from Java to Sri Lanka. The rich vibrant Indonesian Malay community in Sri Lanka trace their descendants to the kings, princes and warriors from the Kingdoms in Java and Sulawesi who found refuge on our island. In 1954 Sri Lanka hosted the Colombo Powers Conference with five leading countries in Asia. Indonesia was an important member in this group that convened to discuss matters relating to the post World War II and postcolonial era. Indonesia in many ways led the call for Afro-Asian solidarity. Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, worked closely with Indonesia and others in the Bandung Movement that gave inspiration to the birth of the non-aligned movement. This has contributed to forge a strong pillar between Indonesia and Sri Lanka where we share global priorities in the international arena on socio-economic development and international relations. We continue to work closely in multilateral forums including membership in the United Nations and our relationship has evolved and deepened through our work in IORA, Colombo Process, Bali Process, Asia Cooperation Dialogue and Asian Regional Forum to build a stronger community in the Asia-Pacific region. At this very difficult time in my country’s history I hope Sri Lanka can count on even stronger support from Indonesia in multilateral forums particularly given Indonesia’s influence as G20 President, incoming ASEAN Chair and a leading member of the state of the OIC. The ocean in essence ties us closer and one could say that Indonesia and Sri Lanka are friendly maritime neighbours to the West across the Indian Ocean. Just as the Sri Lankan society from ancient times has benefitted from the Indonesian culture with people-to-people interaction via ocean links, ocean waves have also brought both our countries shared pain at times; most recently from the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. The ocean binds us and the ocean is the future. I hope Sri Lanka and Indonesia can collaborate, work together on maritime issues including issues related to blue economy as we charter our way forward,” said Sabry.

Subsequently a panel discussion was held with the participation of Ambassador of Indonesia to Sri Lanka Dewi Gustina Tobing, The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia Yasoja Gunasekara, Centre for Geopolitics Risk Assessment Executive Director and Senior Lecturer, University of Indonesia, Jakarta Prof. Kusnanto Anggoro and Head of Department of International Relations, University of Colombo Prof. Chaminda Padmakumara. The discussion shed light on past relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka, future relations that can be of value to both countries at multilateral and bilateral levels, strengths and challenges encountered by both countries in a rapidly changing world and how people to people connectivity could be enhanced by respecting norms, standards and values at national and international levels.

A reflection on historical, cultural and diplomatic ties

In her presentation, Tobing spoke about how Indonesia-Sri Lanka relations date back to the 8th Century while making references to Rakai Panangkaran – the second king of the Mataram Kingdom in the Abhayagiri Vihara inscriptions. “His name is inseparable when talking about the construction of the Borobudur Temple which is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. Even though the heydays of Hinduism and Buddhism ended the relations between the two regions remained intact. The Dutch East Company controlled both Indonesia and Sri Lankan territories. Kings from various places in Indonesia were exiled to Sri Lanka and many of these Malay communities now reside in Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee, Jaffna. Some places in Sri Lanka also refer to identical Indonesian names such as Jawatte and Ja-Ela in addition to street names such as Malay Street, Java Lane etc. Many of these people call themselves the Malaya society; where members are mostly descendants from Indonesia. Historical and cultural relations between the two friendly countries were further strengthened by the diplomatic relations on August 6, 1952. Since then, Indonesia and Sri Lanka have strengthened bilateral ties. Around 11 MoUs on terrorism, educational training, illicit trafficking, narcotics and drugs, higher education, research and technology have been signed in addition to the establishment of a joint committee to combat illegal and unregulated fishing in an attempt to move towards sustainable fisheries.

“Indonesia is now a member of the G20 since its GDP now exceeds USD 1 trillion. We are the President of the G20 this year. With a population of 272 million – 44% of our demographic is now under 25 – therefore we are trying to make this demographic stronger to expand the economy and we place an importance on human resource education in Indonesia. Indonesia 4th prospective investment destination in the world. The Indonesian G20 Presidency carries the spirit of recovery with the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’,” said Tobing. 

She further said that combining capacities of the two countries will help support various industries in Sri Lanka while collaborating with the private sector to help recover the economy of Sri Lanka by expanding exports. “In terms of regional cooperation, people to people connection is also important. Since there are many descendants of Indonesia in Sri Lanka we should try to connect them as much as possible looking at the possibility of preserving cultures and values in both countries,” she said. 

Strengthening the cultural connection  

“One of the unique aspects of this relationship is that both countries share civilizational, cultural and religious ties dating back as far as the 5th century CE,” opined Yasoja Gunasekara, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia. “The important part of the cultural relationship is that we have a community in Sri Lanka which is part of our national fabric – the Sri Lankan Malays who are of Indonesian origin primarily. My team and I have been focusing a lot on the shared history which has not been made aware in this part of the world. Sri Lanka has been a melting pot situated between the East and West – the connections we have had over the centuries with Indonesia reflected in things such as the cuisine for instance, the pol sambol. Malay pickle originated from Indonesia and so many contributions have been made to our cultural traditions including Batiks. Sri Lankans have created their own unique take on the Batik and now we have batiks which are endemic to Sri Lanka. The rabana is very much part of our musical traditions which also originated from Indonesia. There are many similarities between Sinhala and Bahasa which is an important vantage point to take this relationship forward on this important 70th anniversary,” said Gunasekara. 

Reviving ‘mandala’ in new geopolitics 

While commenting on the process of multilateral cooperation between the two countries, Prof. Kusnanto Anggoro said that there’s much more to be achieved, considering the commitment of both countries to contribute to resolve global and transnational concerns while preparing to deal with emerging new challenges. 

Talking about the ‘Mandala’ concept Prof.Anggoro said that the ancient geopolitical outlook of Mandala remains intact. The mandala model states that local power was more important than a central leadership. “Sovereignty is defined by the centre (rather than the outpost boundary); resilience is more predominant rather than the need for power projection; a consensual approach is more acceptable than hegemonic impulses.

“The influence of South Asian thinking on Indonesian strategic culture is important,” he continued. “This is very productive in terms of making peace as it focuses more on the resilient dimension rather than on defense. The question is how this strategic culture can be beneficial in forming better relations between the two countries in future. This would be beneficial in the long run when considering the geopolitical changes predicted in future. The real manifestation of the mandala structure would likely be seen on the orientation of defense and I’m sure that both countries would likely agree on the non-provocative defense which is developing defense military capability that minimize security dilemma. Modernization may prioritise on maritime patrol, cyber defense and signature capability. Sri Lanka and Indonesia are two countries accepted by other ASEAN members.  As such Indonesia and Sri Lanka can be the lynchpin to forge inter-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN countries,” added Prof. Anggoro.