The Prime Minister (PM) of Malaysia H.E. Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim was on a 3-day state visit to India from 19th August to 21st August 2024, at the invitation of the Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi to strengthen comprehensive strategic partnership and enhance cooperation between the two countries.
- This marks the 1st-ever visit of Malaysian PM Anwar bin Ibrahim to India as well as to the South Asia region ever since he became the PM of Malaysia in 2022.
- During his visit to India,he was accompanied by a high-level delegation which included Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan; Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment Trade and Industry; Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital, among others.
Highlights of PM Anwar Ibrahim Visit to India:
On 20th August 2024, PM of Malaysia Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim arrived in New Delhi, Delhi. He was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi and later visited Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
- During his visit to India, he held bilateral meeting with PM Narendra Modi, and he met President of India Droupadi Murmu, and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India.
- On 20th August 2024, he delivered a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi.
Bilateral Meeting:
On 20th August 2024, PM Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar bin Ibrahim at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
- They held discussions on the wide range of bilateral cooperation including political, defence and security cooperation, economic and trade, digital technologies, startups, fintech, energy (renewables), healthcare, culture, among others.
Key Announcements:
i.On 20th August 2024, PM Minister Narendra Modi and PM of Malaysia Anwar bin Ibrahim agreed to upgrade their partnership from an Enhanced Strategic Partnership established in 2015 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
ii.Both countries agreed to support and expedite the review process of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more effective, user-friendly, simple, and trade-facilitative for businesses, which aims to conclude in 2025 and to strengthen supply chains between India and ASEAN countries.
- Also, PM’s of both countries welcomed the discussions on convening the 2nd Joint Committee Meeting of Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA).
iii.The bilateral trade between the two countries reached a record high of USD 19.5 billion. Also, leaders of both countries recognised the collaboration between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank Negara Malaysia to promote the usage of local currency settlement in bilateral trade and investments.
- This initiative will encourage industries of both countries to further facilitate the invoicing and settlement of trade in local currencies, i.e. in Indian Rupee (INR) and Malaysian Ringgit.
iv.Leaders of India and Malaysia agreed to strengthen cooperation in promoting sustainable energy and adapting to climate change.
- Malaysia commended India-led initiatives like: establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
v.Malaysia appreciated India’s support for ASEAN centrality and the upcoming ASEAN chairmanship in 2025.
- India will also work with Malaysia on its request to join Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) forum.
vi.The Government of India (GoI) has allowed the special allocation of 2lakh Metric Tons (MT) of non-basmati white rice to Malaysia through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL).
- Malaysia requested an additional 5 lakh MT of white rice from India in 2024, in addition to the 1.7 lakh tons that India had already allocated.
vii.The GoI has decided to allocate 100 seats under India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme for Malaysian nationals in the areas of cyber-security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML).
- This move will bolster the cooperation between two countries in the field of higher education.
viii.Malaysia has decided to join the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) as its founding member.
- PM’s of India and Malaysia encouraged the expeditious conclusion of negotiations on the framework Agreement of the IBCA.
ix.Both India and Malaysia has decided to establish Ayurveda Chair by Institute for Training & Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) under the Ministry of AYUSH, India at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Malaysia.
- Also, both the countries agreed to conclude the MoU on Pharmacopoeia cooperation at an early date.
x.Both India and Malaysia held discussions for the setting up of Tiruvalluvar Chair of Indian Studies at the University Malaya (UM) in Malaysia.
xi.India and Malaysia held discussions between Start-up India and Cradle Fund of Malaysia among other stakeholders under an India-Malaysia Startup Alliance.
xii.Leaders of both India and Malaysia appreciated the signing of the MoU on Digital Technologies as well as the setting up of India-Malaysia Digital Council.
- The India-Malaysia Digital Council will foster collaboration in various areas of digital technology: digital public infrastructure, digital capacity building, cyber security, emerging technologies such as: quantum computing, 5G, cloud computing, among others.
- Following the bilateral meeting with Malaysian PM Anwar bin Ibrahim, PM Narendra Modi announced that India plans to integrate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Malaysia’s national payment network, PayNet.
9th India-Malaysia CEO Forum
i.During the bilateral meeting held between PM Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar bin Ibrahim, both the leaders appreciated the convening of the 9th India-Malaysia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Forum held on 19th August, 2024 in New Delhi, India.
ii.The forum was co-chaired by Nikhil Meswani, Executive Director (ED), Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Tan Sri Kuna Sittampalam, President, Malaysia-India Business Council (MIBC)
Report of the 9th India-Malaysia CEO Forum:
The Co-chairs of the India-Malaysia CEO Forum, jointly presented the report of the 9th India-Malaysia CEO Forum to EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar and YB Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia.
India-Malaysia Signed several MoUs:
The GoI and Government of Malaysia (GoM) have signed several Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and Agreements in various fields of cooperation such as: Recruitment, Employment and Repatriation of Workers; Ayurveda and other Traditional Systems of Medicine; Digital technologies; Culture, Arts, and Heritage, among others.
- These agreements were signed in the presence of PM Narenda Modi and PM of Malaysia Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India.
List of MoUs:
| S.NO. | MoU/ Agreement | Representative from Indian side for exchange of MoU | Representative from Indian side for exchange of MoU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | MoU on the Recruitment, Employment and Repatriation of workers | Dr. S. Jaishankar, MEA, India | YB Steven Sim Chee Keong, Minister of Human Resources, Malaysia |
| 2. | MoU on cooperation in the field of Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine | Dr. S. Jaishankar, MEA, India | YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia |
| 3. | MoU on cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies | Dr. S. Jaishankar, EAM, India | YB Dato’ Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital Malaysia |
| 4. | Program on Cooperation in the field of Culture, Arts, and Heritage | Dr. S. Jaishankar, MEA, India | YB Dato’ Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia |
| 5. | MoU on cooperation in the field of Tourism | Dr. S. Jaishankar, MEA, India | YB Dato’ Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia |
| 6. | MoU on cooperation in the field of Youth and Sports | Dr. S. Jaishankar, MEA, India | YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia |
| 7. | MoU on cooperation in the field of Public Administration and Governance Reforms | Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East), MEA, India | YB Dato’ Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Haji Abdul Aziz, Director General (DG)of Public Service of Malaysia |
| 8. | MoU between International Financial Services Authority (IFSCA) with Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), Malaysia in relation to mutual cooperation | BN Reddy, High Commissioner of India to Malaysia | YB Dato’ Wan Mohd. Fadmzmi Che Wan Othman Fadzillan, Chairman of LFSA |
About Malaysia:
Prime Minister (PM) – Anwar bin Ibrahim
Capital- Kuala Lumpur
Currency- Malaysian Ringgit
