This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 27, 2023 - April 2, 2023
Malaysia has been a valued partner for India from time immemorial. India has a civilisational relationship with Malaysia nurtured by people-to-people connections over the millennia. In contemporary times, Malaysia has emerged as a key partner of India in Southeast Asia, and it is among the select countries uniquely placed at the tri-junction of India’s Act East Policy; vision of Sagar (Security and Growth for All in the Region) in the Indian Ocean region; and India’s construct of the Indo-Pacific vision as contained in the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
In the post-independence period of India and Malaysia, spanning over 6½ decades, the bilateral relations have made impressive strides. With the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957, the newly independent Malaysia (the then Federation of Malaya) and India embarked on a journey to build a vibrant relationship based on common values of democracy, rule of law and an urge to uplift their economies for the betterment of their peoples’ welfare.
Our two countries decided to elevate the bilateral relationship in 2010 to a strategic partnership covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations. It was during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Malaysia in November 2015 that the two countries further advanced the engagement to an enhanced strategic partnership.
Historical linkages, geographical proximity and the changing focus on Asia have helped to lay a strong foundation for our bilateral partnership with Malaysia. The presence of an over 2.7 million-strong Indian diaspora in Malaysia has helped nurture and preserve the India-Malaysia friendship, and Malaysian Indians from generations past have acted as the living bridge of friendship between the two countries.
Last year saw a revival of engagements between India and Malaysia on all aspects of bilateral relationship after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The two countries witnessed high-level exchanges at ministerial and senior official levels both ways, as both countries have fully lifted travel restrictions. High-level engagements in the form of official bilateral consultations between Wisma Putra and the Ministry of External Affairs of India in April 2022 in Putrajaya and the visit of Malaysia’s foreign affairs minister to India in June 2022 kept the political discourse continuing. Both sides are working towards the next joint commission meeting at the level of foreign ministers in India at an early date to define a new roadmap for deepening the engagement with Malaysia.
With the emergence of India as the fifth-largest economy in the world and by remaining the fastest-growing large economy, the potential for tapping the bilateral complementarities for advancing trade and investment relations are far better than ever. Bilateral economic and commercial relations are poised for a boost given a near similarity of priorities of India and Malaysia — be it developing the digital economy, sustainable development, renewable energy, equitable healthcare and so on. More so, the priorities of Malaysia match the competencies of Indian companies in digital technologies, fintech and the pharma sectors, and renewable energy, which offer great synergies for partnership.
Malaysian companies, with their competencies in construction, infrastructure, electronics manufacturing and in other fields, have huge opportunities in India’s ambitious infrastructure expansion plans and India’s semiconductor mission.
Despite the challenges of Covid-19 on several fronts, India’s bilateral trade with Malaysia grew significantly. According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), bilateral trade increased 21% year on year in 2022, touching a new high of about US$20 billion. While the trade base is strong, the potential for further expanding trade between the two countries is immense.
There are several ongoing discussions concerning two-way investment proposals, especially in the fields of renewable energy, including solar and green hydrogen, the semiconductor sector, e-commerce and electric vehicles. Regular meetings of the India-Malaysia CEOs Forum will also be renewed with the composition of the CEOs having been revised recently. It is also an opportune moment for a review of the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement that came into force in 2011, to reflect the contemporary priorities of the two countries. India remains committed to strengthening its trade and business engagement and take it to newer heights.
In the area of defence, India and Malaysia are seeing close and robust cooperation. Last year was special as, for the first time, bilateral exercises were conducted by the three Services — Samudra Laksamana (naval exercise) off the coast of Kota Kinabalu in May; Udara Shakti (air exercise) in Kuantan in August; and Harimau Shakti (army exercises) in Johor in December. With a significant increase in defence production capacities in India, New Delhi is looking at expanding its defence engagement with Malaysia to include defence industrial collaboration, defence research and development, as well as providing alternative sourcing for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and spares for various platforms.
As we embark on the post-Covid-19 phase, tourism is emerging as a sector with great potential. Malaysia is indeed a very popular destination for Indian tourists. I understand that India ranks among the top three source countries for foreign tourists in Malaysia. In pre-Covid-19 times, over 700,000 Indian tourists visited Malaysia in 2019. After the opening of international travel, both sides are focusing on ensuring a quantum jump in two-way tourism. E-visa facilities for Indian and Malaysian nationals travelling to each other’s countries have been resumed, which is already having a positive impact on the fast-growing tourism sector.
There is special focus on expanding the avenues for greater cooperation in the education and skill development sectors. About 3,600 Indian students are studying in Malaysia in public and private universities, mainly in the streams of engineering, medicine, business administration and social sciences. An estimated 3,000 Malaysian students are studying in India. Discussions have been underway to set up an overseas campus of the reputable Indian Institute of Technology in Malaysia. India offers a number of scholarships to Malaysian students under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme and programmes of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre, set up in 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, has emerged as a fulcrum for engaging with the vibrant academies in Malaysia promoting Indian art and culture, apart from offering specialised classes in yoga, Indian dance and music. The close cultural connection of the people of the two countries, including the presence of a large Indian community in Malaysia, continues to enrich the bilateral ties.
The bilateral relationship has a great potential to mature further and achieve its full potential, taking advantage of the 65 years of diplomatic relations and 30 years of India-Asean engagement. Our endeavour would be to fully realise the enhanced strategic partnership. The desire to further engage and expand the relationship is quite evident. India and Malaysia are poised to forge new partnerships in non-traditional, frontier and emerging sectors in the days and years to come.
B N Reddy is the high commissioner of India to Malaysia
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