New Delhi: India has raised with Jakarta the issue of the upcoming visit of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto from Delhi to Islamabad. The President of Indonesia has been invited as the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade on January 26.

According to Pakistani media reports, the Indonesian president will visit Pakistan on the 26th, mainly on the day he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade at Kartavia Path in New Delhi. India only invites countries with which it has strong diplomatic ties to Republic Day, and Indonesia is seen as a close maritime neighbour.

But the optics of their joint visits to India and Pakistan are one that the Indian government will not be interested in, as Delhi is known to have been pushing for de-hyphenation for decades. Relations between the two neighbors are not on a positive note due to Pakistan’s support for cross-border terrorism.

According to unwritten protocol, India has asked foreign delegations not to travel from Pakistan to India or from India to Pakistan.

In the United States, the policy of decriminalization began to gain prominence during the second term of the George W. Bush administration. It was intended to differentiate US foreign policy towards India from its policy towards Pakistan, recognizing India’s rising power status and its potential as a strategic partner. In February 2019, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) traveled to India and Pakistan separately in the same month.

The Indian side has invited the President of Indonesia as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade. This is the third time an Indonesian leader has been invited since 2018 and 1950, and the visit is part of India’s wider outreach to ASEAN countries.

India, of course, has close ties with Indonesia in the maritime and political spheres as well as culturally and historically.

The President’s visit comes at a time when India is celebrating 10 years of Act East policy.

Under this, leaders of ASEAN countries including Vietnam and Malaysia have traveled to India in the past year.

Also, Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Southeast Asian countries as part of this wider outreach.