The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Anwar Ibrahim will arrive in New Delhi on an official three-day visit on Monday, August 19. This will be his first visit to India since taking office in November 2022.
Prime Minister Ibrahim will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Zafrul bin Tengku Aziz, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Tiong King Sing, Minister of Digital Gobind Singh Deo and Minister of Human Resources Steven Sim Chee Keong.
After a ceremonial reception at Raj Bhavan, Prime Minister Ibrahim will meet his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders will review and the bilateral relationship — elevated to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015 — and discuss ways to further strengthen it.
They will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual concern. This will be followed by an official luncheon in honour of the visiting Prime Minister.
The Malaysian leader will also meet the President of India, Droupadi Murmu and other senior leaders, deliver a lecture titled “Towards a Rising Global South: Leveraging Malaysia-India Ties” at the Indian Council of World Affairs, and participate in a roundtable meeting with several Indian industry leaders.
External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, who paid Prime Minister Ibrahim a courtesy call during his official visit to Malaysia on 27-28 March 2024, had reiterated India’s commitment to further develop the Enhanced Strategic Partnership.
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In 2023, Malaysia was India’s third-largest trading partner among ASEAN Member States and the largest trading partner among the eight South Asian nations.
The Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA), which came into force on 1 July 2011, covers trade in goods and services, investments and movement of natural persons.
In 2023, Malaysia and India’s total trade reached USD 16.53 billion, with Malaysia enjoying a surplus of USD3.43 billion. India was Malaysia’s largest importer of palm oil and palm oil-based products, importing USD2.44 billion.
Malaysia’s major imports from India include petroleum products (USD1.44 billion) and agricultural products, including halal meat USD1.27 billion.
Malaysian officers regularly attend the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) Course, the National Defence College (NDC) Course and several other specialized courses in India, while Indian officers attend the Malaysian Command and Staff Course as well as other specialized courses.
The two also conduct joint and multilateral military exercises. Exercise “Harimau Shakti 2023”, (October 23-November 4, 2023) a joint training involving troops from the 5th Royal Battalion of the Malaysian Army and a battalion from the Indian Army’s Rajput Regiment, was aimed at enhancing military capability in multi-domain operations in a sub-conventional scenario.
“India and Malaysia have strong historical and socio-cultural linkages. Our bilateral relationship was elevated to the status of Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Modi,” said a release from the Indian Ministry of External Ministry Affairs.
“ As both countries enter the second decade of Enhanced Strategic Partnership next year, the visit of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim would pave way for further strengthening of India-Malaysia bilateral ties by charting out a multi-sectoral cooperation agenda for the future,” it said.
