India has agreed to support the development of Indonesia-specific Electronic Voting Machine's (EVMs), marking a major step in bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The initiative is intended to help Indonesia develop EVMs tailored to it's own electoral system rather than simply importing the machines used in India.
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The announcement came during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to Indonesia, where he held talks with the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
India's Election Commission (ECI) signed an MoU with Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU).
The agreement facilitates knowledge sharing on electoral experiences and best practices, and advances cooperation in human resource development and the use of technology for efficient administrative practices.
The wide-ranging agreements underline the deepening strategic partnership between India and Indonesia across defence, economic, technological and cultural domains.
This move is being viwed as an international endorsement of India's decades long experience in conducting large scale elections using electronic voting machines. Supporting Indonesia's project reflects growing confidence in India's election technology and technical expertise.
Indonesia is one of the world's largest democracies and it conducts elections across thousands of islands and follows an electoral framework that significantly differs from India in terms of laws, ballot design, administrative processes and polling arrangements. For these reasons, officials stated that Indonesia requires machines specifically designed for its domestic requirements rather than adopting India's system unchanged.
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