India will hold the second India-Indonesia Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI) next month, after a five-year gap, to boost bilateral trade that has declined in the last two financial years. Indonesia is India’s second-largest ASEAN trade partner after Singapore.
The WGTI aims to address tariff and non-tariff barriers and explore opportunities in engineering goods, gold jewellery, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, commercial vehicles, agriculture, and telecom equipment.
Bilateral trade fell from $38.8 billion in FY23 to $28.18 billion in FY25, with India’s exports dropping from $10 billion to $5.38 billion, largely due to lower exports of minerals and vehicles. With Indonesia’s global imports at $233.66 billion, there is significant potential for India to increase exports.
The government has invited industry input on trade barriers, investment opportunities, and ways to promote trade. India is also seeking Indonesia’s support for the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) review, aiming to address a rising trade deficit with the bloc, which grew to $45.2 billion in FY25.