Indonesia and India agreed to step up cooperation in a broad range of areas, particularly in defence and trade, following a meeting between President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The two leaders agreed to double their efforts to take bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2025. According to Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS), trade between the two countries in 2016 was USD 12.9 billion. It rose 28.7 per cent to USD 18.13 billion in 2017. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had visited India in December 2016 with a promise to elevate India-Indonesia ties. During that visit, the two nations had taken aim at China’s aggressive stance on South China Sea when they “stressed the importance of resolving disputes by peaceful means”.