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India - Malaysia Relations

India established diplomatic relations with the Federation of Malaya (predecessor state of Malaysia) in 1957. India is represented in Malaysia through the High Commission of India based in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is represented in India through their High Commission in New Delhi and Consulates General in Mumbai and Chennai. VVIP Visits: India and Malaysia have close and friendly relations and regular Summit level meetings. Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak visited India in January 2010 and again on December 20-21, 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. At the invitation of The Honourable Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi undertook an Official Visit to Malaysia on 23 November 2015. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the ASEAN–India Summit and East Asia Summit on 21–22 November 2015. The two Prime Ministers held official talks in Putrajaya and jointly inaugurated the Torana Gate in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, a gift from India to Malaysia, as a symbol of India-Malaysia friendship. A Joint Statement for Enhanced Strategic partnership was issued after the visit to build on the strategic partnership forged by the two countries in 2010. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their determination to take the Strategic Partnership to the next level by deepening existing areas and exploring new areas of cooperation. Both Prime Ministers also witnessed the signing of Agreement on Cultural Exchange Programme for 2015-2020 and two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Project Delivery and Monitoring, and Cooperation on Cyber Security. Ministerial Visits from India Minister of State (IC) for Commerce & Industry visited Malaysia on 12-14 July 2015 to participate in RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting. She also held a bilateral meeting with her counterpart. She addressed a gathering of Malaysian CEOs which was organised by Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC) and Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia (CIIM). Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. (Retd.) Vijay Kumar Singh visited Malaysia on 4-7 August 2015 to participate in 13th ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, 5th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and 22nd ASEAN Regional Forum, on the sidelines of the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. MoS (VKS) also had bilateral meeting with Dato’ Sri Anifah Haji Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia. MoS (VKS), jointly with Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Hon’ble Deputy Foreign Minister of Malaysia inaugurated 4th Round of ASEAN-India Network of Think-Tanks Meeting organised in Kuala Lumpur by Research and Information System (RIS) and India and Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia.

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Minister of State (IC) for Commerce & Industry visited Malaysia again to participate in ASEAN EAS/ASEAN-INDIA Economic Ministers’ Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur during August 23-24, 2015. India-Malaysia CEOs’ Forum was held during her visit. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar led the Indian delegation for the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) during 3-4 November 2015. On the margins of ADMM Plus, RM had bilateral meeting with his counterpart. In the context of 23rd Conference of Speakers and presiding Officers of Commonwealth, Hon’ble Speaker Loksabha Smt Sumitra Mahajan and Hon’ble Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Prof. (Dr.) P. J. Kurien visited Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia during 9-13 January 2016. Ministerial Visits from Malaysia Malaysian Minister of Works Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof, along with a strong business delegation, visited India in October 2015 and called on Hon’ble Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways & Shipping Sri Nitin Gadkari; Hon’ble Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Sri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble MOS (IC) for Commerce & Industry Smt Nirmala Sitharam. The Malaysian Minister also called on Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt Vasundhara Raje. H. E. Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs visited Jaipur on 2-4 February 2016 to participate in the Counter Terrorism Conference (CTC) 2016 organised by India Foundation. On the margins of the conference, he met Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and NSA Shri Ajit Doval. Joint Commission meeting: The last meeting of the India-Malaysia Joint Commission, led by Foreign Ministers of both countries was held in Kuala Lumpur on 3 May 2011, where the entire gamut of bilateral relations was reviewed. There is also the mechanism of Foreign Office Consultations at Secretary-level between the two countries and the last meeting was in New Delhi on 20 January 2015. Parliamentary interaction: Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Speaker of Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives – the Lower House) of Malaysia, visited India in July 2013 and met the Speaker of Lok Sabha. The Malaysian Parliament has extended an invitation to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to lead an Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Malaysia. Agreements and MoUs: Several Agreements and MoUs have been signed between the two countries, including in the field of Commerce, Avoidance of Double Taxation, Customs matters, Higher Education, Extradition, Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Tourism, Traditional medicine, IT and services, Cultural Exchange Programme, Public Administration and Governance, to name a few. Defence & Security Cooperation: India-Malaysia defence relations have steadily grown over the years. A MOU on Defence Cooperation was signed in 1993. There have been visits by the Defence Ministers to each other’s country and the last visit of Malaysian Defence Minister to India was in 2006 and that of Indian Defence Minister in November 2015. Malaysia-Indian Defence Cooperation meetings at the level of

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Defence Secretary and Staff talks between the three services are also held. Joint exercises “Harimau Shakti” are held between the two countries. Indian Air Force Training Team was deployed in Malaysia to train Malaysian pilots on the SU-30SKM aircraft from 2008 to 2010. Indian naval ships also make regularly port calls in Malaysia; last visit was by the Eastern Fleet ships to Kemaman Port in June 2015. Following the news of disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, India extended all necessary assistance to the Malaysian authorities and deployed six ships and five aircrafts initially to undertake search operations in Bay of Bengal region including later deployment of two search and rescue aircrafts namely C130J and P8i in Subang Airport, Malaysia. Economic and Commercial Cooperation: Malaysia is the third largest trading partner for India within ASEAN, and India is the largest trading partner for Malaysia from among the countries of the South, and India is the largest trading partner for Malaysia from among the countries of the South, excluding China. India and Malaysia signed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) on July 1, 2010, which came into force from July 1, 2011. CECA covers goods, services, investment and other areas of cooperation. First CECA review meeting took place in New Delhi on December 8-9, 2014. The bilateral trade between India and Malaysia in 2014-15 stood at US$ 16.93 billion (Indian export to Malaysia was worth US$ 5.8 billion and imports were at US$ 11.11 billion) as against 13.43 billion in 2013-14. Trade remains significantly imbalanced in favour of Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the significant investors in India. It is estimated that, if the Mauritius route is also included, the investment of Malaysia in India could be as high as US$ 7 billion. However, as per available data, Malaysia is currently the 23rd largest investor in India with FDI inflows of US$ 732 million in the last 15 years. On the other hand, as per Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Indian cumulative investment into Malaysia from 1980-2014 has been around US$ 2.31 billion which include Jan-Dec 2014 – US$ 225.50 million. Connectivity and Tourism: Air links have improved significantly following a bilateral agreement in 2007 to progressively increase the seat capacity to six major destinations in India and a provision for multiple destinations and designating any number of airlines to operate on the India–Malaysia routes. At present, there are more than 170 flights between two countries, the majority of which are operated by Malaysian carriers. India is the 6th largest source country for inbound tourism for Malaysia with around 9 lakh Indian tourists visiting Malaysia in 2014. On the other hand, Malaysia is the 10th largest source country for foreign tourists into India with 1.6 lakhs Malaysians visiting India in 2014. India and Malaysia also have a MoU for Cooperation in the Field of Tourism since 2010. Education Cooperation: Currently, there are 1500 students from India studying in Malaysia. Further, nearly 1500 Malaysian student enroll themselves in Indian colleges. India and Malaysia also have an MOU on Higher Education since January 2010. In addition, India offers to Malaysia about 25 slots under ITEC and 5 under the

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Colombo Plan. India also offers nearly 30 scholarships for studies in graduate, post-graduate and research programmes in universities in India. Indian Cultural Centre (ICC): Indian Cultural Centre, Kuala Lumpur, under ICCR was established in February 2010 and conducts classes in Carnatic Vocal, Kathak dance, Yoga, Hindi language and Tabla by trained teachers from India and Malaysia. During his visit to Malaysia, PM announced renaming the Indian Cultural Center as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Center. Traditional Medicine: India and Malaysia signed an MoU on cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine October 2010. Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) Division, Ministry of Health of Malaysia has been working to popularize AYUSH systems in Malaysia. Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy systems are practiced in Malaysia. In addition to the AYUSH Information Cell in ICC since 2010, one Ayurveda doctor and two therapists have been deputed to Malaysia for the last 4 years. AYUSH experts (3 Ayurveda experts and two Siddha experts so far) are also being periodically deputed for short period to deliver lectures, consultations, conduct seminars and periodical training to Malaysian doctors, professionals and others. India also offers 20 scholarships for Malaysian Nationals to study Traditional medicine in Indian Institutes/ colleges. The Indian High Commission has brought out a book on Ayurveda in English and Bahasa Malaysia language for dissemination among Ayurveda practitioners. Labour & Expatriates: There are over 145,000 Indian labourers registered in Malaysia while it is estimated that around 75,000 labourers are in Malaysia without proper documents. In addition, 90,000 expats are also working in Malaysia in professional as well as skilled and semi-skilled category. A bilateral MoU on Employment and Welfare of Workers signed in January 2009 establishes an institutional framework to deal with issues concerning Indian workers. The Indian High Commission has been taking proactive steps to ensure that the welfare of Indian labour is taken care of and they are assisted to return to India. Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs): Malaysia has one of the largest communities of Persons of Indian Origin in the world, numbering more than 2 million (about 7 to 8% of Malaysia’s population). The overwhelming numbers of PIOs are Tamils with significant representation of Malyalees, Telugus, Sikhs, Gujaratis, Bengalis, Sindhi and Marathi. There are also significant numbers of Indian Muslims who are considered Bumiputras. The Malaysian India Congress (MIC), a political party for the Malaysian Indian community, is part of the ruling coalition “Barisan Nasional”. There are also other political parties representing Indian community. Malaysia Indian Muslim Congress (KIMMA) is another political party representing the interests of Indian Muslims. There are 4 Ministers/Deputy Ministers of Indian origin in the Cabinet. Malaysia has been sending the largest contingent to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and currently there are five PBS Awardees from Malaysia, namely Dato Seri Samy Vellu, Tan Sri Somasundaram, Tan Sri Vadiveloo, Tan Sri Ajit Singh and Tan Sri Datuk Ravindran Menon. Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Malaysia and then President of Malaysian Indian Congress was the

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Chief Guest at the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in New Delhi on 7-9 January 2014. ASEAN: Malaysia assumed the Chairmanship of ASEAN in January 2015. As a result, India-ASEAN Summit as well as East Asia Summit meeting was held in Malaysia in 2015. PM attended the ASEAN-India Summit on 21 November 2015. During the official talks between the Prime Ministers of India Malaysia, both leaders welcomed the enhanced relations between ASEAN and India, especially since the elevation of the partnership to a strategic status at the ASEAN–India Commemorative Summit in 2012 in New Delhi and noted the adoption by ASEAN and India of the new Plan of Action (2016-2020) to implement the ASEAN–India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity at the ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur on 5 August 2015. Useful Resources: High Commission of India, Kuala Lumpur website: http://www.indianhighcommission.com.my/ Indian Cultural Centre High Commission of India, Kuala Lumpur website: http://www.icckl.com.my/

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January 2016