Anwar's Visit Significant For India's Relations With Malaysia And ASEAN

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's visit to New Delhi is significant for both Malaysia-India relations, and regional cooperation, particularly in the context of India's ties with ASEAN, Indian media coverage of the visit announcement shows.

Anwar, who will be in India from August 19 to 21, on his first visit to the country since becoming prime minister in November 2022, will be accompanied by a high-level delegation.

Apart from expanding bilateral trade and investment linkages, Anwar is expected to discuss various regional issues of mutual interest with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday (Aug 20).

Malaysia and India recognise the strategic importance of their locations in the Indian Ocean region, making maritime cooperation essential for regional stability, according to a Financial Express report.

"The overall ties between the two countries have been on an upswing in the last few years," news agency PTI noted in a report, announcing the three-day visit.

Underlining their growing economic ties, Indian media reports mentioned that India and Malaysia are in the process of strengthening the framework for conducting trade in national currencies.

With Malaysia expressing its interest in joining the BRICS grouping, India and Malaysia are likely to see more common ground for cooperation on multilateral issues, according to commentators.

Bilateral trade in 2023 was valued at RM76.62 billion (US$16.53 billion), with Malaysia enjoying a surplus of RM15.89 billion (US$3.43 billion).

Trade in commodities, especially Malaysian palm oil exports to India, defence cooperation, and semiconductor manufacturing, are viewed as key areas of further expansion in relations.

The media has also highlighted the visit's significance in view of Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN from next year.

India and the Southeast Asian bloc are discussing a review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more trade facilitative.

India's Ministry of External Affairs in its announcement on Sunday, noted that the bilateral relationship was elevated to the status of "Enhanced Strategic Partnership" in 2015 during Modi’s visit to Malaysia.

The visit would pave the way for further strengthening India-Malaysia ties by charting a multi-sectoral cooperation agenda for the future," it said.

The composition of Anwar's delegation shows the importance Malaysia places on the diplomatic engagement with India.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo and Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong are accompanying Anwar on the trip.

-- BERNAMA