Jakarta. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta next week as New Delhi seeks to acquire key critical minerals.

Modi is set to set foot in Jakarta on Monday evening. The leaders will meet the following day before Modi flies to the cultural city of Yogyakarta.

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty confirmed that critical minerals and natural resources processing were set to be high up on the agenda. One of the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) will cover this sector, aside from deals on healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, space, among others. 

“Some [MoUs] are in process. Some will be finalized in time. Some may get delayed, but there will still be outcomes,” Chakravorty told a news conference in Jakarta on Friday.

The diplomat was hesitant to disclose the specifics on the documents. However, New Delhi wants to work with Indonesia on moving up the critical minerals value chain. 

“We are taking a few steps further into the downstream,” Chakravorty said. 

“What we are looking at is setting up factories and manufacturing in Indonesia with assured offtake for India and global markets.”

He signaled that joint venture plans are in the pipeline without naming the companies that will pool their resources. Chakravorty admitted to having just spoken to Rosan Roeslani — the investment minister and boss of the sovereign fund Danantara — on this matter. Danantara has all state-run enterprises, including the country's miners, under its wings.

Modi seems to be on a mission to secure critical mineral supplies. The Indian leader and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi have just agreed to work together on this sector as part of the latter's New Delhi trip. Both countries have been relying on foreign sources for the metals used in advanced technologies like electric vehicles. They are also seeking to be less China-dependent.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of the battery mainstay nickel, even mining roughly 2.6 million metric tons last year, according to a US Geological Survey report. India highly relies on foreign nickel supplies. Jakarta has stopped exports of nickel ores, requiring producers to process the silvery-white metal at home before shipping it overseas.

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