Indonesia, India sign BrahMos missile deal, expand defense ties

Indonesia and India signed a deal for BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles as Narendra Modi met Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, a step that pushes New Delhi’s defense reach deeper into Southeast Asia while giving Indonesia new long-range maritime firepower. Indian sources put the package at about $630 million, and the agreement came alongside roughly eight to nearly a dozen other deals spanning defense, health, education, technology, critical minerals and maritime security.

The missile sale gives India another export foothold for BrahMos, the joint India-Russia project that has become a centerpiece of its defense-industrial push. Indonesia will join the Philippines and, by reporting, Vietnam as a Southeast Asian buyer of the system, extending a pattern that matters well beyond procurement. For ASEAN states, the deal strengthens a smaller but growing network of militaries buying advanced Indian systems at a time when China’s reach in the South China Sea and surrounding waters remains the region’s central security concern.

The package also included cooperation tied to Sabang port, on the edge of the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. That location has drawn attention because of its strategic position close to India’s Great Nicobar project, adding a geographic dimension to a defense relationship that is increasingly about access, logistics and deterrence rather than one-off arms sales. Indonesia’s defense ministry said the purchase was part of modernization of military hardware and defense capabilities, especially in the maritime sector.

Modi’s stop in Jakarta was his first trip to Southeast Asia since 2023 and his first visit to Indonesia as prime minister since 2018. The timing underscored how India is trying to convert diplomatic warmth into durable security ties with one of Asia’s largest militaries and one of its most important maritime states. For Washington, the deal fits a broader interest in a more capable regional coalition that can complicate Chinese military planning without forcing open alignment against Beijing. For India, it marks another test of whether BrahMos can move from prestige platform to export business after earlier advanced talks in 2023, when BrahMos said it was discussing a package worth between $200 million and $350 million.