India, Malaysia sign 9 MoUs; elevate ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim held extensive talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, elevating the relationship between India and Malaysia to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The discussions resulted in the signing of nine Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), covering a wide range of topics including digital technologies, tourism, employment, recruitment, and worker repatriation and collaboration in the fields of Ayurveda and other traditional medical systems.

India also approved a 'special allocation' of 200,000 MT of white rice to Malaysia, 100 additional ITEC slots for Malaysian nationals, the establishment of an Ayurveda Chair at University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Thiruvalluvar Chair of Indian Studies at the Malaya University in Malaysia besides cooperation between start-up ecosystems in both countries under an India-Malaysia Startup Alliance.

Malaysia is a key pillar of India's 'Act East' policy and a valued partner in the Southeast Asian region. Both countries have strong historical and socio-cultural linkages with the bilateral relationship being elevated to the status of Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015 during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Malaysia in November 2015.

"A decade of Enhanced Strategic Partnership between India and Malaysia is being completed. And over the last two years, with the support of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, there has been new momentum and energy in our partnership. Today, we extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation," said PM Modi after holding discussions with the Malaysian Prime Minister at the Hyderabad House.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues, including cooperation in ASEAN and the Global South.

Earlier, Ibrahim, who arrived in New Delhi late Monday evening on a three-day visit - his first to India since taking office in November 2022 - received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and also visited Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

During his visit, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will participate in a roundtable meeting with several Indian industry leaders to advance economic cooperation between the two countries and also will also deliver a lecture titled 'Towards a Rising Global South: Leveraging Malaysia-India Ties' at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on Tuesday evening.

"In 2023, Malaysia and India's total trade reached RM 76.62 billion (USD 16.53 billion), with Malaysia enjoying a surplus of RM 15.89 billion (USD 3.43 billion). India was Malaysia's largest importer of palm oil and palm oil-based products, importing RM 11.31 billion (USD 2.44 billion). Malaysia's major imports from India included petroleum products (RM 6.62 billion or USD 1.44 billion) and agricultural products, including halal meat (RM5 .79 billion or USD 1.27 billion)," said a statement released by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry ahead of Ibrahim's arrival in India.

Malaysia was also India's third-largest trading partner among ASEAN Member States and the largest trading partner among the eight South Asian nations in 2023.

The Malaysian PM is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Tourism Minister Sri Tiong King Sing, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo and Minister of Human Resources Steven Sim Chee Keong.

Malaysia is also seeking India's support to join the BRICS alliance, an intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which added four new members - Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates - on January 1, 2024.

With inputs from IANS