AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana A millennium ago, India’s Chola Kingdom commanded the seas of Southeast Asia, forming deep mercantile and cultural ties with the Indonesian archipelago. The two developed a shared economic destiny that lasted for hundreds of years.
In the 21st century, these two giants are again engaging in complementary roles on the global stage. India is now the world’s most populous nation, and Indonesia the fourth. Together, they represent 1.8 billion people intent on basic survival, industrial growth, and ascending the global economic ladder.
Both countries are moving deeper into manufacturing, and both must serve an upwardly mobile middle class. That means more electricity, more refined fuels, more petrochemicals, more steel, more freight, and more industrial heat. It also means more coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power — energy sources that can deliver reliable, affordable power.
It is a reminder that hydrocarbons are still the future of energy.
The need for fossil fuels took center stage when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met in Jakarta Jul. 7 to forge closer economic ties. At the top of their agenda sat a massive expansion of energy trade and an Indian request for more Indonesian coal to feed a ravenous power grid.
This is a logical arrangement in a fast-growing industrial relationship. Bilateral trade has grown more than fivefold since 2005, from less than $5 billion to nearly $25 billion. India remains Indonesia’s second-largest buyer of coal and the biggest importer of Indonesian crude palm oil, while also sourcing minerals, rubber, hydrocarbons, pulp, and paper. In return, India supplies refined petroleum products, vehicles, telecom equipment, steel products, and agricultural goods.
The Steel Authority of India and Indonesia’s Krakatau Steel just agreed to a joint venture for making stainless steel in Indonesia. Around 90 percent of India’s primary steel output still depends on coal. Indonesia’s steel industry is similarly coal-dependent, with almost 80 percent of production relying on the fuel.
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia reported that India has expressed interest in participating in Indonesia’s oil and gas sector. Once one of the largest producers of gas in the world, Indonesia recently awarded multiple exploration contracts to international oil firms.
The two governments discussed cooperating on peaceful nuclear projects. Like fossil fuels, nuclear power offers dependable baseload electricity that the intermittent sources of solar and wind cannot match.
Both sides also signed multiple agreements on critical minerals and supply chain technology, medical product regulation, disaster management, telecommunications, and agriculture.
Recent rolling blackouts in Sumatra and Java exposed severe vulnerabilities in Indonesia’s national electricity system. State utility PLN openly admitted that constrained coal supplies were responsible for Java’s crippling outages. It is impossible to grow a manufacturing hub on solar and wind, which are subject to the whims of weather.
Faced with the catastrophe of energy starvation, Indonesia is rejecting green propaganda. Jakarta has delayed its timeline for retiring coal-fired power plants. In December 2025, the government quietly but firmly abandoned plans to close the Cirebon-1 plant.
India finds itself in the same boat and is making equally rational choices. Coal continues to generate nearly 80 percent of its power nationwide. When severe weather devastated hydroelectric facilities across the subcontinent this year, India turned to coal as a substitute. India’s heavy reliance on coal is projected to continue well beyond 2047.
In a declaration of energy sovereignty, India withdrew its bid to host the 2028 United Nations climate summit. Take it as a sign that no amount of U.N.-inspired fearmongering will deter the mission to secure affordable energy for the Indian populace.
The India-Indonesia trade relationship is dismissing the apocalyptic fantasy of the climate industrial complex. These two nations, together comprising more than one-fifth of the world’s population, are determined to secure the energy sources their people need to improve their lives.
Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K. He served as a research associate with the Changing Oceans Research Unit at University of British Columbia.
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