Malaysia FM hails ties with India at commemorative event celebrating 65 yrs of friendship
Malaysian FM Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah hailed the bilateral relationship between India and Kuala Lumpur and said it is based on civilisation values.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah hailed the bilateral relationship between India and Kuala Lumpur and said the affinity of both the country is not based on “bilateral ties” but on “civilisational” values. Notably, his remarks came during a commemorative event–India-Malaysia@65– as both countries marked 65 years of modern diplomatic relations at a commemorative event on Friday. “Our relations predate the 65 years of official bilateral relations, the relations between India and Malaysia and the people of India and Malaysia is not just a bilateral relation but a civilisational relation,” he said during an event organised by the Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia (CIIM) and Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia.
According to the Malaysian FM, the relationship between the two countries has made significant progress in the past decade and added civilisational relationship enjoyed by both countries made the relationship even more special. While speaking at the event, he said that over 150 Indian companies have invested $3 billion in Malaysia in various sectors namely biotechnology, financial services, manufacturing, and the textile industry. Notably, Indian companies have invested over $2.62 billion in over 250 manufacturing projects including $1.37 billion by around 135 Indian companies resulting in the creation of more than 15,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector in 2020. Prominent Indian companies with a presence in Malaysia include TCS, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, and Ramco Systems.
India-Malaysia ties
Notably, both countries established official diplomatic relations in 1957 following the Federation of Malaya’s independence and the end of colonial rule. In the past decade, several ministers visited New Delhi including Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd NajibTun Razak in January 2010 and again on 20-21 December 2012. He came to New Delhi to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. During the UPA II regime, the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visited Malaysia on 26-28 October 2010.
Later, the incumbent Prime Miniter Narendra Modi and PM Najib met on the sidelines of the India-ASEAN Summit/EAS in Nay Pyi Taw in November 2014 and agreed to take forward our strategic relationship. At the invitation of PM Najib, PM Modi undertook an Official Visit to Malaysia on 23 November 2015. Recently, Abdullah visited India and met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ meeting and discussed possible new cooperation in various fields including cultural diplomacy as well as trade and investment.
