The past 50 years of Indonesia-Singapore relations have shown that despite the episodic instances of discord and tensions, the countries have a strong interest in maintaining harmonious bilateral relations for their mutual benefit.

Despite the close and warm ties overall, discord could still flare up to mar relations in the future given the persistence of undercurrents in ties, domestic perceptions of each other and new dynamics in their common strategic environment.

Nevertheless, going forward, both Indonesia and Singapore should not let discord and tension define their relations. On the contrary, both countries need to maintain their close cooperation as good neighbours and good partners in ASEAN. They need to build new initiatives while cultivating existing channels of communication to enhance mutual understanding.

How relations develop in the next 50 years will be determined chiefly by the domestic politics of both countries; the changes in the South-east Asian region; as well as the progress of the ASEAN Economic Community, which will involve their economic relations with the rest of ASEAN.

… Keoni Marzuki is a Senior Analyst at the Indonesia Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. This was adapted from a piece which first appeared in RSIS Commentary.