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orth Sumatra is hoping to get direct flights to South Asian countries, particularly India, as well as an improved sea network.

North Sumatra Governor Tengku Erry Nuradi said after a meeting with Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat on Friday that he wanted airlines to establish direct flights between cities in India and Kualanamu International Airport in North Sumatra. There are currently no direct flights between airports in Indonesia and India as all travelers must transit in either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.

Tengku said direct flights between India and North Sumatra would improve cultural and tourism relations between the residents of the two places, especially considering that about 50,000 people of Indian descent already live in North Sumatra. In addition, he said, such flights could open business opportunities with India since there were thousands of Indonesians who embarked at Kualanamu on their way to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on pilgrimages.

“[India] could have some sort of religious sites for those who are transiting in India before proceeding with their journeys to the Holy Land, “ Erry said.

The head of the Foreign Ministry’s Policy Analysis and Development Agency, Siswo Pramono, said during a foreign policy discussion at the University of North Sumatra in Medan that despite the geographical proximity, current connections were inadequate. “Not to mention that the connectivity on the sea is also lacking,” he said.

While India and Indonesia do not share a land border, they have common maritime boundaries in the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea. India’s southernmost territory, Indira Point in the Nicobar Islands, lies just 90 nautical miles from Sabang Island in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

Rawat said the two countries have many similarities, as both are heavily populated nations with democracy and rule of law.

“India and Indonesia are two countries that drive the global economy with stable and resilient economic growth,” he said, adding that the wider South Asia region had one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Rawat said in terms of tourism, Indian people were already very interested in visiting Indonesia.

“We brought the second biggest number of tourists to Bali, just after Australia,” he said.

Pradeep said India and North Sumatra in particular had the potential to collaborate over education, through scholarships, and over imports and exports. “This is very possible because of the similarity of cultures in North Sumatra and India,” Rawat said.

Indonesian interest in South Asia has grown lately, as shown by the recent visit of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan last January.