India and Indonesia sign AI cooperation pact among 20 landmark deals

India is using its diplomatic calendar to bake AI into a widening web of strategic partnerships. The Indonesia package pairs hard power deals—BrahMos missiles and critical minerals—with digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence cooperation. That’s a clear signal that Delhi sees AI and DPI (like UPI and Aadhaar-style systems) as exports and tools of influence, not just internal modernization projects.

For the AGI race, this kind of south–south alignment matters because it broadens the club of countries that are serious about standing up their own AI capabilities rather than just consuming US or Chinese stacks. If India and Indonesia can jointly cultivate talent pipelines, shared datasets and interoperable infrastructure, they’ll be better positioned to adopt and adapt frontier models to local needs. Over time, that could translate into more regional labs doing serious work on agentic systems and safety, diversifying the research base beyond the current handful of Western and Chinese giants.