At the Indo Defence 2024 show in Jakarta, senior Indonesian defense officials visited the India Pavilion and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) stall. Among them were Vice Admiral (Retd) Prof Dr Amarulla Octavian, Vice Chairman of Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and Lt Gen Rui Duarte, Inspector General of Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence.
The main event venue, the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) Kemayoran, hosted this high-level engagement on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), DRDO publicly acknowledged the visit, stressing the importance of the exchange and the interest Indonesian officials had in India’s defense research and technological developments. Situated prominently in Hall F-46 of JIExpo Kemayoran, the India Pavilion functioned as a display for DRDO’s state-of-the-art defense innovations and technologies.
The ASTRA MK-I air-to-air missile, Remotely Operated Vehicle-Daksh, Low Frequency Dunking Sonar (LFDS-X), Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system, Wheeled Armoured Platform (Whap), Varunastra Heavy Weight Torpedo, and the Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile were among the advanced systems that DRDO displayed during the exhibition. These technologies highlight India’s expanding capacity for domestic defense manufacturing and research.
Held from June 11 to 14, 2025, the Indo Defence 2024 Expo & Forum is known as the largest tri-service defense exhibition in Southeast Asia, with 35 national pavilions and more than 1,000 companies from 55 countries. The Ministry of Defense of Indonesia and PT Napindo Media Ashatama are organizing the event with the goal of promoting international cooperation, technology transfer, and showcasing developments in defense and security around the world. Important state-owned companies in Indonesia, including PT Pindad, PT PAL, and PT Dirgantara Indonesia, also showcased their most recent goods, demonstrating the country’s aspirations to strengthen its defense sector at home and its international alliances.
High-ranking Indonesian officials’ attendance at the India Pavilion demonstrates the two countries’ growing defense cooperation and shared interest in technology. This interaction is in line with the Indo Defence Expo’s overarching goals, which include fostering international peace, economic expansion, and cooperative innovation in the defense industry.
Furthermore, DRDO’s involvement in the show is a component of India’s continuous endeavors to build a strong defense industry ecosystem that involves stakeholders from the public and private sectors. In order to promote research in cutting-edge defense technologies, DRDO’s Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (VRDE) recently signed a memorandum of understanding with COEP Technological University, Pune, and transferred the technologies of nine systems to ten industries.
The fact that Indonesian defense officials visited the India Pavilion and DRDO stall at Indo Defence 2024 highlights the event’s status as a leading forum for technology sharing, international defense cooperation, and the development of India-Indonesia bilateral ties in the area of defense innovation and research.
